“I lied.”
Amber’s face changed.
“Why?”
“Because he told me to.”
The kitchen noise continued around them.
A knife chopped onions.
Water ran.
A timer beeped.
Amber’s voice became small.
“Why would he do that?”
Loretta looked ashamed.
“Because Anthony was his son.”
Amber closed her eyes.
Loretta continued.
“Your father had already given Anthony money. More than I knew. When Anthony came back, your father refused to give him more. Then Anthony came to me.”
“So you took mine.”
“Yes.”
“And Dad knew.”
“Yes.”
“After?”
“Yes.”
“Did he make you put it back?”
Loretta shook her head.
Amber laughed once.
The sound was terrible.
“He let me hate you.”
Loretta’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he was ashamed.”
Amber turned away.
Ruth felt something old and familiar.
The reliable child again.
The silence placed on the person most likely to survive it.
Amber faced her mother.
“Was Dad a good man?”
Loretta stared.
Ruth almost interrupted.
Then stopped.
It was not her question.
