“Think that bench will hold another thirty years?”
I ran my fingers along the polished oak.
“Knowing my father? Probably longer.”
Then I looked down at Caroline.
I used to think keeping a family together meant accepting whatever its members did to you.
Frank had counted on that.
So had Paige.
They’d mistaken my patience for permission.
I hadn’t stopped loving my daughter.
But I had stopped letting that love cost me everything else.
Graham leaned over and kissed my forehead.
Caroline yawned.
And for once, I had no reason to look over my shoulder.
The house belonged to me.
The life inside it did, too.
THE END
