Chapter 14 - SKYLAR FINALLY TOLD ME EVERYTHING
The custody evaluator asked Skylar simple questions.
Where did she sleep?
Who helped with homework?
Who cooked?
Who attended school events?
Who made her feel safe?
I sat outside the room while she answered.
I hated every second.
Not because I feared the truth.
Because an eleven-year-old should not have to explain her family to strangers.
Afterward, Skylar was quiet in the car.
I did not press her.
Halfway home, she spoke.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Grandma used to say you cared more about your job than me.”
My hands tightened on the steering wheel.
“When?”
“When you worked late.”
I forced myself to breathe.
“What else did she say?”
Skylar looked down.
“That Dad deserved someone who took better care of him.”
I swallowed.
“What did Dad say?”
“He told her not to say it when I was in the room.”
That hurt in a different way.
He had not defended me.
He had only wanted the insult hidden.
Skylar continued.
“Grandma said when the house got fixed, she was getting your office.”
“I know.”
“And Hailey was getting a bigger room.”
“I know.”
“And I was supposed to go to Grandma Diane’s.”
My mother.
“Yes.”
“I asked Dad why.”
My throat tightened.
“What did he say?”
Skylar’s voice became smaller.
“He said grown-up problems weren’t my business.”
I pulled the car over.
I turned toward her.
“Look at me.”
She did.
“None of this happened because of you.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Her eyes filled.
“I think so.”
I took her hand.
“You are not losing your home because you asked for dinner.”
She started crying.
That was when I realized she had been carrying that fear since the café.
She thought everything exploded because she told me the truth.
I unbuckled my seat belt and pulled her into my arms.
“You did the right thing.”
“What if I didn’t tell you?”
I closed my eyes.
“Then I would have found out later.”
“But maybe everyone would still be together.”
I held her tighter.
“No.”
My voice was firm.
“Pretending something is okay does not make a family healthy.”
She cried quietly.
I let her.
Then she whispered.
“I don’t want Dad to hate me.”
“He doesn’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because whatever mistakes your father made, loving you is not the mistake.”
I hoped that was true.
A few days later, Brandon asked to see Skylar.
She agreed.
Not at the house.
At a family counselor’s office.
When she came out, Brandon’s eyes were red.
He looked at me.
“She told me she thought I chose Mom over her.”
I said nothing.
His voice broke.
“She was right.”
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For the first time since everything began, Brandon did not blame me.
He looked like a man finally standing in front of the damage he had caused.
