“I saw where they planned to send her.”
“That’s not true. She’s not a burden, and I would’ve looked after her IF she needed me to.”
“They never planned to tell you.” His voice was so quiet I had to lean forward. “Your mother said, ‘Cathy deserves a life of her own. We won’t chain her to Rosie.’”
“She said that?”
“She offered me a settlement to marry Rosie. Legal guardianship. I didn’t sign for any of that — I signed because I love her. Because I want her to have the life she deserves.”
I looked down at the paper crushed against my chest.
There was one thing I couldn’t get over.
“They never planned to tell you.”
My own parents had done this.
“And Rosie knew…” I said.
Ben nodded.
“I told her a year in. I couldn’t lie to her anymore. She cried. Then she laughed. Then she said she wanted to keep me anyway.”
