second, I wondered if grief could create hallucinations.
Then she looked directly at me.
“Rick.”
I crossed the room before I had time to think.
She stood.
“What are you doing here?”
My voice came out low because my daughters were somewhere nearby.
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
“Please.”
“Please what?”
“You don’t understand.”
I laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“Twenty years, Vanessa.”
She flinched.
“You had twenty years to make me understand.”
She reached toward my arm.
I stepped back.
“Not one call. Not one birthday. Not when June broke her arm. Not when Claire was sick. You didn’t even ask whether they were alive.”
“Rick, I tried.”
That stopped me.
“What?”
Her voice broke.
“I tried to come back.”
Before I could demand an explanation, the microphone screeched across the room.
Every head turned.
June, Ava, and Claire were standing together on the small stage.
All three
