“Liza…”
“Not during eight years of marriage? Not during six years of trying for a baby?”
Diane stepped forward.
“She’s eighteen.”
“He was very young, Liza. He didn’t even know what decisions he was making.”
“How young?”
“I was 20,” Ben said.
“What happened?”
“My girlfriend got pregnant. I panicked. Mom thought I wasn’t ready. I saw Claire once after she was born.”
I looked down at Evelyn, then at him.
“My girlfriend got pregnant.”
“That’s what happened in the hospital.”
His eyes filled.
“You weren’t looking at Evie. You were seeing her. You were seeing the baby you abandoned.”
He nodded.
Diane said, “We did what we thought was best.”
“We?”
“You weren’t looking at Evie.”
“Ben had his future ahead of him.”
“So did his daughter.”
Diane looked away.
“What’s her name?”
Ben hesitated.
Diane glanced at him.
Diane looked away.
I caught it.
“What’s her name, Ben?”
“Claire.”
