Chapter 70

“Why did you leave us?” she asked, holding me strongly.

I rocked her a little, not wanting to let her go. “I thought it was the best thing for us all at that time.” I leaned back and looked at her. “I couldn’t stay, Fay. I couldn’t, I swear.”

“Because of Uncle Dav.”

I sat down again. Picked up my cup.

She hurried back to the couch and sat. “That’s it, isn’t it? Please, Uncle Allan, tell me. Tell me right now. Not later, or tomorrow. Right now.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Everything.”

“Okay, but let me take you out for dinner.”

She smiled. “Yes.”

“You know, I thought you’d be angry.”

“I thought so, too.” She fiddled with her plastic bracelets. “The whole way here, I planned everything I was gonna tell you, and none of it was nice…But I don’t know, when I saw your face, I just…I remembered how sweet you were to me, and how you took care of me when Mom was busy with her shop or Dayton…And how much I missed you.”