Chapter 12 - Lily asks if I was going to send her away
She saw the Hartwell brochure.
I wish she had not.
A detective had left copies on my desk.
Lily read:
Residential therapeutic school.
She asked:
“Is that where Vanessa wanted me to live?”
I said:
“Yes.”
“Were you sending me?”
“No.”
“Did you know?”
“No.”
She stared at me.
Then:
“But you believed her when she said I hurt Noah.”
That was harder.
“Yes.”
“So maybe you would.”
I sat beside her.
“Maybe if I kept believing things without checking, I could have made a terrible decision.”
She looked down.
That answer frightened her.
Truth sometimes does.
I added:
“That is why I’m changing how I handle accusations. Nobody gets removed from this family because one adult tells me a story.”
She hugged the stuffed dinosaur she had taken from her room for comfort.
May you like
“Even me?”
“Especially you.”
