One side of her face was red and swollen. Finger-shaped marks shadowed her little arm.
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Chapter 23 / 27
Chapter 23 - DANIEL REED WITHOUT A FIST
I was fifty when Lily told me I had changed.
We were arguing.
She wanted to take a job in Seattle.
I wanted her closer.
“You’re doing it,” she said.
“What?”
“The scary voice.”
“I’m not scary.”
She laughed.
“Dad.”
I stopped.
She was right.
My shoulders had tightened.
Voice lower.
The same presence clients once paid me to bring into difficult rooms.
“You’re an adult,” I said.
“Yes.”
“I don’t like Seattle.”
“You don’t have to.”
I exhaled.
“Go.”
She stared.
“That easy?”
“No.”
“But?”
“But my discomfort is not authority.”
Lily smiled.
“Therapy worked.”
“Don’t sound so surprised.”
She moved.
I survived.
Protection had changed shape.
May you like
At four, she needed me to carry her out.
At twenty-six, sometimes protection meant not blocking the gate.
