“For fifteen years, Dad and Diane were my family,” she whispered. “They took me in when I left home. They made me feel wanted.”
I sat beside her.
“Dad always said he’d lost so many years with me because of you. He said you were cruel to him and wouldn’t let him see me.”
“Dad and Diane were my family.”
I swallowed my anger.
“And the business?”
“He said it was our chance to build something together. He promised the store would make enough money to cover every payment.”
Blair wiped her cheeks.
“He stopped answering our calls.”
“Diane invested almost all her savings, too.”
“What happened?”
“A few months ago, Dad said he was going away on business. Then he stopped answering our calls.”
She looked at me miserably.
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“I believed him.”
“Diane eventually found out he’d run off with another woman. He took the business money with him.”
I couldn’t believe it.
Twenty-nine years ago, Richard had emptied our savings and abandoned me for Diane. Now he’d abandoned them both, leaving my daughter buried in debt.
Blair began crying. “He told me you ruined his life. And I believed him.”
“What’s all this?”
I took her trembling hand.
But there was still one person who owed us an explanation.
Diane.
The following afternoon, I invited Blair and Diane to my house.
I told them we needed to discuss the debts. But when they arrived, I’d already arranged three folders on the kitchen table.
“He chose not to.”
“What’s all this?” Diane asked.
“Proof.”
I opened the first folder.
“These are the letters I sent Richard, begging him to visit Blair.”
The second contained our divorce papers and the document bearing my forged signature.
“You were having an affair.”
“He was never forbidden from seeing his daughter. He chose not to.”
Then I opened the third folder.
“And here’s the company he used to steal Blair’s money.”
Blair stared at the documents.
I turned to Diane.
“You watched me cry!”
“I know you were having an affair with Richard before he left me.”
Diane lowered her head.
“Why did you help him convince Blair to run away?”
“Richard told me you’d destroyed his life. I believed him!”
“You were my best friend, Diane! You watched me cry over that man!”
“Please forgive me.”
Tears streamed down her face.
“I was afraid Blair would leave us if she knew the truth.”
I stared at her in disbelief. “So you let me believe my daughter was gone forever.”
“Mary, please forgive me.”
“No. Richard abandoning you doesn’t erase what you did to me.”
“You’ve taken enough.”
Diane broke down.
I opened the front door. “I lost fifteen years with my daughter because of you. I think you’ve taken enough.”
And this time, Diane was the one who had to leave.
After Diane left, Blair stood beside the kitchen table, crying.
“I’m so sorry, Mom. I hated you for fifteen years because I believed everything Dad told me.”
“Why are you helping me?”
I pulled her into my arms.
“We’ll find a lawyer and go through those loan documents. Maybe we can hold Richard accountable. I can’t promise it’ll be easy, but you won’t face it alone.”
Blair looked at me.
“Why are you helping me after everything I’ve done?”
“Do you still have my room?”
“Because you’re my daughter. That never changed.”
She burst into tears again.
After a while, she whispered, “Do you still have my old room?”
I smiled. “Of course I do.”
We went upstairs together. Blair opened the door and stared at her old bed, books, and photographs.
“You’re my daughter.”
Oliver peeked inside.
“Mom, is this where you grew up?”
Blair squeezed my hand.
“Yes, sweetheart. And this is where I should’ve come home a long time ago.”
