Chapter 73

“Dayton, I know what you think of me, and I’m not going to try to change your mind, okay? But she came to me, and she’s here, and in some way, she needs me. No matter what you say, she needs me. I’m her uncle. I was there for the first ten years of her life.” My words came fast. Like a dam had broken inside me. “I took care of those girls for nine years before you. I was there at Fay’s birth. I put a roof over their heads, paid their bills, helped Elsie start her business, watched over Fay seven days a week—” I stopped, my voice breaking. I was on the edge of tears. “When you came into my sister’s life, I opened my heart to you, right away, do you remember that? You said I could have made it hard on you, but I didn’t. And I’m asking you, for my sister’s sake, for your daughter’s sake, I’m asking you, please, Dayton, can you see it my way for just one small minute?”