Chapter 16: Outside the Welcome

Laurel stopped in front of me and asked the relatives watching to let me decide whether she could speak.

My aunt stepped between Laurel and the welcome hall doors.

'Cassidy gets to choose,' Laurel said.

The relatives looked from her to me.

My aunt held her ground at the entrance.

Laurel reached toward my sleeve, then lowered her hand before she touched me.

I kept my eyes on the relatives.

I had seen people choose for me before. I would choose this time.

A chair scraped inside the hall.

Nobody outside invited Laurel in.

My aunt faced her. 'What do you want to say to us?'

Laurel folded her hands around the program she had been carrying.

'I want Cassidy to hear me first,' she said. 'If she lets me finish.'

My aunt did not answer for me.

That mattered more than I wanted it to.

'I can let you speak,' I said. 'I won't comfort you afterward.'

Laurel nodded.

She turned to the relatives again, but nobody stepped closer to her.

'I have no right to ask Cass to make me feel better,' she said.

A cousin lowered the program in her hands.

A woman near the doors glanced toward the hall, then back at Laurel.

Laurel did not try to take back what she had said.

My aunt watched her. 'Is that all?'

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