Chapter 13 - THE TRUTH WE OWED HERChildren remember strange things.
Margot remembered the pink dress.
She remembered crying.
She remembered that Claire had once married her father.
But much of the rest had faded.
Emmett and I had always agreed we would tell her the truth when she was ready.
Now she was asking.
So we told her.
Not every adult detail.
But enough.
Claire had been jealous.
Claire had tried to separate her from us.
Claire had taken her from preschool without permission.
Claire had been stopped.
Margot listened quietly.
Then she asked:
“Did she hate me?”
“No.”
I answered before Emmett could.
Margot looked at me.
“Then why did she do it?”
“Because sometimes people who don't heal their own pain give it to somebody else.”
She thought about that.
“Did Mommy know her?”
“Yes.”
That surprised her most.
I told her about Phoebe helping Claire.
About the letter.
About love not being a prize.
Margot looked at the unopened envelope.
“Can I read Claire's letter?”
Emmett hesitated.
Then nodded.
Margot opened it.
Claire's message was short.
She apologized.
No excuses.
No requests.
No “I hope you forgive me.”
No demand for a meeting.
At the bottom, she wrote:
You never took anything from me, Margot. I was an adult who made you responsible for fears that belonged to me. I hope you grow up knowing that nobody who truly loves you will ever ask you to become smaller so they can feel bigger.
Margot read it twice.
Then folded it.
“Do I have to forgive her?”
“No.”
“Do you?”
“Not completely.”
“Does Daddy?”
Emmett answered.
“I'm working on it.”
Margot nodded.
“Can I write back?”
We exchanged glances.
“What do you want to say?”
She took a pencil.
Her letter contained four sentences.
Dear Claire,
I remember being sad. I don't hate you. I hope you're nicer now. I don't want to see you yet.
Margot.
Claire never replied.
Exactly as she should have.
She respected the boundary.
Another four years passed.
May you like
Then, when Margot was thirteen, our family received devastating news.
I had cancer.
