The problem was that he had confused loving her with allowing her to hurt the people he loved.
“I want you in Lily’s life,” he said. “But I won’t teach my daughter that family members are allowed to mistreat her because they’re older or because we love them.”
Margaret’s expression shifted.
“So now I’m a bad grandmother?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“Then what do you want from me?”
Daniel answered without hesitation.
“I want you to apologize. Not to me. To Lily. And I want you to stop treating Hannah as though she doesn’t belong in this family.”
Margaret’s eyes filled with frustrated tears.
“I’ve done everything for you.”
“I know you’ve done a lot for me. I’m grateful for that. But gratitude doesn’t mean I have to accept everything you do.”
She stared at him for a long time.
Then she asked quietly, “And if I can’t?”
Daniel felt the answer settle inside him.
“Then we’ll love you from a distance until you can.”
Margaret looked shocked.
She had expected anger, perhaps another argument.
She had not expected a boundary that would remain in place even if she cried.
After several seconds, she turned away.
“I need time.”
Daniel nodded.
“Take it.”
He closed the door gently.
For once, he did not chase after her.
When Lily came home from school that afternoon, she found her father sitting at the kitchen table with a small cardboard box.
“What is that?”
Daniel smiled.
“Something I thought you might like.”
She opened the box.
Inside was a set of cake-decorating tools, several piping bags, and a little apron embroidered with her name.
