When he finished, he placed the letter on the table and covered his face with both hands.
“My whole life,” he whispered. “My whole life, I thought they left because I wasn’t worth staying for.”
Elaine reached toward him but stopped before touching his arm.
Ryan looked up.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried, Ryan. Your mother told me you didn’t want me. She told me you’d asked her to keep me away.”
He stared at the letters.
“She told me you abandoned us.”
Neither of them spoke for a long time.
Finally, Ryan reached for Elaine’s hand.
“I’m sorry.”
Elaine shook her head.
“You were a child. You have nothing to apologize for.”
He began to cry.
And I realized that the real damage Patricia had done wasn’t the engagement, the insults, or even the money.
It was the belief she’d planted in her son that love was something people could withdraw without explanation.
