“I was an idiot.”
“That isn’t an explanation.”
Mr. Feldman quietly closed the office door.
Good idea.
Daniel looked toward the photograph.
“Rachel was our cousin.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
“Dad’s sister’s daughter.”
I stared.
We had a cousin named Rachel?
No one had ever mentioned her.
Daniel continued.
“She got pregnant young.”
“With Ethan?”
“Yes.”
“Who was the father?”
“I don’t know.”
Ethan flinched.
Daniel looked ashamed.
“Rachel had a breakdown after the birth.”
“What kind?”
“Severe postpartum depression. Maybe psychosis. I don’t know. People didn’t explain things properly back then.”
That part could be true.
“What happened to Ethan?”
“Temporary kinship placement fell through. Then child services arranged foster care.”
Ethan’s face tightened.
“I remember foster homes.”
Daniel nodded.
“Mom thought you’d gone to a family in Vermont.”
“How?”
“Because I told her.”
There it was.
The lie.
“Why?”
Daniel covered his face.
“Because Grandpa told me to.”
