“Mom, that’s not what happened.”
A pause.
“No, Hannah didn’t throw you out for no reason.”
Another pause.
“She asked you to stop insulting Lily. You refused.”
Hannah stopped folding a towel.
She could hear Margaret’s voice rising through the phone.
Daniel moved toward the kitchen.
“No, I’m not going to apologize for asking you to treat my daughter with respect.”
A long silence followed.
Then he spoke again.
“If you want to visit Lily, you need to understand that insulting her mother is not acceptable. If you can’t do that, we’ll wait until you’re ready.”
He ended the call.
For a moment, he simply stood there, staring at his phone.
Hannah looked at him.
“What did she say?”
“She said you had turned me against her. She said the family was falling apart because you couldn’t accept criticism.”
“And what did you tell her?”
“That our family isn’t falling apart because you set a boundary. It’s changing because I finally recognized that I should have set one myself.”
Hannah felt something loosen in her chest.
It wasn’t forgiveness.
Not yet.
But it was the first time Daniel had taken responsibility without asking her to make the situation easier for him.
He placed his phone on the counter.
“Mom says she wants to come over this weekend.”
Hannah waited.
“I told her not to come unless she’s willing to apologize to Lily and treat you respectfully.”
“What did she say?”
“She hung up.”
Hannah let out a quiet breath.
