Mrs. Albright turned toward me.
“Your father did not steal you.”
“He isn’t her father,” Vanessa snapped.
Mrs. Albright’s expression hardened.
“He became her father when you left her beside his back door in the rain.”
Vanessa’s mouth opened, but no words came out.
Mrs. Albright continued.
“Mason contacted the police that same night. Social services searched for you for months. You had crossed state lines with Derek before the weekend ended.”
“I was frightened.”
“You were given opportunities to come home,” Mrs. Albright said. “Your aunt found you in Tennessee. She offered to help you regain custody. You refused because Derek threatened to leave.”
The crowd began murmuring.
I looked at Vanessa.
“Is that true?”
Her face twisted with shame.
“I thought I could come back when my life was stable.”
“How long did you expect that to take?”
“I don’t know.”
“Six months? Six years? Eighteen?”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Dad remained beside me, but he did not touch me.
He looked like the terrified teenager in the old photograph again.
I turned toward him.
“Why didn’t you tell me the whole truth?”
His eyes shone.
“Because every child deserves to believe they were wanted.”
“You could have told me that she left.”
“I was afraid you would hear it as something being wrong with you.”
His voice broke.
“I didn’t want you growing up wondering why your own mother didn’t choose you. I wanted you to know that someone did.”
My anger cracked.
“You chose me?”
Dad looked at me as though the answer should have been obvious.
“Every morning. Every sleepless night. Every school meeting. Every terrible science project. Every time you slammed a door and told me I was ruining your life.”
A tear slipped down his cheek.
“I chose you on the easy days, Ellie. I chose you on the days when I had no idea what I was doing. And I would choose you again.”
Vanessa suddenly sank to her knees.
At first, I thought she had collapsed.
Then she looked up at me, sobbing.
