I’d told her I didn’t know what she meant.
She’d known exactly what she meant.
And somewhere along the way, she’d learned the same lesson I had. That the easiest way through Mark was to give him what he asked for and hope the storm passed.
“Lauren,” I said. “Listen to me. I’m not angry at you.”
She cried harder.
“I’m hurt,” I said. “I’m not going to pretend I’m not. But I know who did this. And it wasn’t you. You were used. The same way I was used for twenty-seven years. He’s very, very good at it.”
“I should have called you.”
“Yes. You should have. And I should have told you a long time ago what your father is really like, instead of protecting you from it. We both have things to learn from this.”
I heard her blow her nose.
