She had made him fear abandonment so deeply that he had spent his adult life trying to keep her happy.
And when the woman he loved was threatened, he was in danger of doing exactly what his father had done.
Walking away.
Ryan stayed with Elaine for three hours.
When he finally left, he asked me to come with him.
We drove to his mother’s house.
Patricia was waiting in the living room.
She had removed the recorder from the table and put it away. The tea had gone cold.
When she saw Ryan, her face softened.
“Darling.”
He didn’t hug her.
He placed the letter from his father on the table.
“Why didn’t you give me this?”
Patricia looked at the envelope.
Then at Elaine’s name on the other papers.
“Where did you get that?”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
She sat down.
“Your father was a complicated man.”
