“Did he say who he was speaking to?”
“No. He went outside.”
I looked at her.
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
Sadie’s eyes filled again.
“Because he told me you’d be upset with me.”
I reached for her hand.
“Why would I be upset with you?”
“He said you were already stressed about money. He said if I told you about the clinic, you’d think I was trying to cause problems between you.”
I felt a wave of anger rise through me.
Curtis hadn’t simply dismissed her pain.
He had used our daughter’s fear of upsetting me to keep her quiet.
I leaned closer.
“Listen carefully, Sadie. You are never responsible for protecting an adult from the consequences of their own decisions. Not your father. Not me. Nobody.”
She nodded.
Then she whispered something that hurt more than anything else.
“I thought maybe if I stopped talking about the pain, Dad would stop being mad.”
