Chapter 22 - MARGARET’S FIRST LETTER
Margaret wrote Lily after several years.
Through therapists.
Lily was ten.
The letter said:
I told myself I was defending the Whitmore family. I tied you outside because I believed letting you sit at the table would mean admitting I had lost control of something I had spent my life protecting.
You were five.
None of that belonged to you.
I am sorry.
Lily asked:
“Did she think I was not Daddy’s?”
“Yes.”
“Did Daddy know?”
“He knew she wondered. He never believed it.”
“Why didn’t he tell you?”
“Because adults can be scared of conflict.”
She frowned.
“That’s dumb.”
“Yes.”
“Do I have to see Grandma?”
May you like
“No.”
She waited three more years.
