Chapter 22
August 5th
“You can’t come in.”
My mother stood on the other side of the door, cracked so she could speak to us without enough room for us to come inside. My heart broke upon realizing what she was doing, how she used this moment to get what she wanted even briefly.
“Mom—”
“No. He needs to leave or I won’t let you in.”
Banner squeeze my hand. “It’s all right, Val.”
“It isn’t.” Tears slid down my cheeks, my back straightening in defiance and in hurt. How could she do this after begging me to come home to see my dad? “Mom, he’s my husband. I want him here.”
“And I don’t. You want to see your father, you’ll do it without him.”
What could I do? Banner wouldn’t make me choose. He would walk away, let me see my father, because that’s who he was. We both knew why she acted thi
