I dropped the letter onto the table. “Is Dad dead?”
Their smiles vanished.
“Yes,” Mom whispered.
Surprise!
“You buried him without telling me?”
“We were protecting you!”
“From saying goodbye to my father?”
Paige stepped forward. “Mom thought you couldn’t handle it.”
“You all attended his funeral?”
Is Dad dead?
Nobody answered.
“I wanted to tell you,” Dean said.
“Then why didn’t you?”
“I tried after the funeral. Mom said she’d spoken to your doctors. She thought the shock could ruin your recovery.”
“And you believed her?”
You couldn’t handle it.
“We’d just lost Dad. I couldn’t bear losing you too.”
“So you let me keep calling him?”
Dean lowered his eyes. “At first, Mom said we’d tell you after your final scans.”
“And afterward?”
Silence.
The shock could ruin your recovery.
I turned to Mom. “You knew I was waiting for him.”
“I’m sorry, Nora.”
“No. You’re sorry I found out.”
