Daniel is my younger brother. When Tom moved out, Daniel moved in, in every way that counted. He fixed the faucets, came to every recital, and was the one Emma called when her car broke down at midnight.
He was sitting at a table near the back, and right now he was staring at Sophie as if she’d grown a second head.
Emma had gone white.
“She changed her mind,” Tom said evenly.
Sophie looked straight at him.
“No. She didn’t.”
She lifted the microphone a little higher.
“She canceled it because you told her that if Uncle Daniel danced with her tonight, you wouldn’t come to her wedding.”
Nobody moved.
Not Tom. Not Daniel. Not Emma.
A hundred and fifty people seemed to hold their breath at once, and every single pair of eyes turned toward my ex-husband.
Sophie lowered the microphone slightly. Her voice cracked, just a little.
“Uncle Daniel taught me how to drive. He helped Emma carry every box into her first apartment. He showed up every single time this family needed somebody.”
She looked at her father.
“And you made your own daughter choose between honoring him and having her dad at her wedding.”
