Chapter 13
Daphne almost resigned.
Alistair found the letter on his desk.
He walked directly to the kitchen where she was helping Sadie choose between two kinds of cereal.
“You’re leaving?”
Daphne looked at the envelope in his hand.
“Not today.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I don’t know if staying forever is healthy.”
Sadie was still at the table.
Alistair lowered his voice.
“Office.”
Daphne followed him.
Once the door closed, she folded her arms.
“I love Sadie.”
“I know.”
“But I’m twenty-five.”
Alistair stopped.
That fact had become invisible to him.
Daphne had built most of her adult life around a child who was not hers.
First because Elena needed help.
Then because Elena died.
Then because Alistair needed someone he trusted.
Then because Corinne tried to remove her.
At every stage, Daphne staying became useful to someone else.
“What do you want?” Alistair asked.
She looked surprised.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s allowed.”
Daphne laughed softly.
“Coming from you, that’s growth.”
He ignored the insult because it was deserved.
“I don’t want you staying because Elena wrote it in a file.”
Daphne’s expression changed.
“You saw that?”
“Yes.”
“She told me once.”
“What?”
“That if anything happened, she wanted me to stay until Sadie was safe.”
Alistair looked toward the door.
“Sadie is safe.”
Daphne nodded.
“That’s why I finally have to decide what staying means for me.”
Alistair understood.
Corinne had treated Daphne like an obstacle because Elena trusted her.
Alistair had almost made the opposite mistake—treating Daphne like a permanent obligation for the same reason.
“You decide.”
Daphne studied him.
“No guilt?”
“I’ll try.”
“No family pressure?”
“No.”
“No dramatic salary increase?”
Alistair hesitated.
She pointed.
“That pause was too long.”
For the first time in weeks, he laughed.
Daphne eventually agreed to remain through the end of Sadie’s school year while exploring pediatric occupational-therapy training.
Not gone.
Not trapped.
A choice.
That mattered.
Sadie began therapy too.
One afternoon she asked Alistair:
“If I don’t call somebody Mom, do they leave?”
He crouched beside her wheelchair.
“No.”
“Corinne left.”
“Because Corinne hurt you.”
“Not because I said no?”
“No.”
Sadie thought carefully.
Then asked:
“Mom Elena knows I said no?”
Alistair had to look away for a second.
“I think your mom would be proud you knew what you wanted to call her.”
May you like
Sadie smiled.
That night was the first night she did not ask whether Corinne was coming back.
