Chapter 14 - WHAT CALEB ASKED ME
Ryan eventually faced trial.
The newspapers called him everything from hero to criminal.
People argued online about whether he had saved lives or betrayed them.
I stopped reading.
Caleb didn't understand all the details.
But he understood enough.
One evening, he asked:
“Is Dad going to prison?”
I sat beside him.
“He might.”
“Because he left us?”
“Partly.”
“Did he stop loving me?”
My heart broke.
“No.”
“Then why did he leave?”
I thought carefully.
“Sometimes adults make choices that hurt people they love.”
“Did he love Brooke more?”
I swallowed.
“I don't know.”
Caleb stared at the floor.
Then he said:
“I don't want to be like him.”
I pulled him into my arms.
“You won't.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you already understand something your father forgot.”
“What?”
“When someone loves you, they don't make you feel like you have to compete for a place in their life.”
He nodded.
A few weeks later, Ryan was sentenced.
He received several years for his role in the cover-up and related crimes.
He looked at me before the deputies led him away.
He didn't ask me to wait.
He didn't ask me to forgive him.
He simply said:
“Take care of our boy.”
I nodded.
“I will.”
Then he disappeared behind the courtroom doors.
I thought that would be the end.
It wasn't.
Three months later, I received a letter.
It was from Brooke.
There was no apology on the first page.
No excuses.
Only one sentence.
May you like
There is something Ryan never told you.
My hands went cold.
