Guess Who Didn't Show Up to My Wedding novel · Chapter 14 of 24

Chapter 14: A Happy Childhood

Mom came into the kitchen at seven, in the cardigan she had slept in.

She stopped in the doorway when she saw the table.

I had laid out the police report and the settlement letter side by side, with the yellow note on top.

Dad sat at one end with his hands flat on the wood.

Garrison and Darrell stood by the stove, and Cillian had gone out to the porch and shut the door behind him.

"Sit down, Mom," I said.

She sat.

She looked at the papers for a long moment and didn't touch them.

"You knew I'd open it," she said to Dad.

"I knew."

"Willa." Her voice was thin. "Please let me explain."

"Go ahead. I'm listening."

She folded her hands.

"When the police called us that night, I thought, that poor child has no one. And I thought, we can do something. We can make it right."

"By signing the letter."

"By giving her a home." She pressed her lips together. "I thought a happy childhood would cover it. A good house, brothers and a sister, parties, a surprise every Friday. I thought if she was loved enough, it wouldn't matter how she came to us."

"You thought it would cover it."

"Yes."

"Over what?"

Mom's eyes went to Dad.

"Over what Dad did," she said at last. "Over what we did, signing."

"And me?"

She frowned. "You?"

"Where was I in this? I was fourteen. You told me to be gentle with her." I put my finger on the sticky note. "I was the part of the happy childhood. I was the proof."

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