“He promised me he would stay.”
She reached across the table.
“He sat in this kitchen until dawn. He kept saying he was not strong enough to love another child.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him not to leave because he was afraid of loving you. I told him to stay because he already did.”
A small sound escaped me.
It was not quite a sob.
“What did you tell him?”
“He came home that morning,” Caroline continued. “He unpacked the truck before you woke up. Thanked your aunt for being there with you. Then he crawled beneath the kitchen table and promised you he would never leave.”
I covered my mouth.
That promise had been the foundation of my life.
I had believed Frank made it without hesitation.
I had believed he stayed because I needed him.
