FOURTEEN
AFTER SAIG’S PARENTS finished assuring themselves that she was alright, the three of them continued in the direction of home in relative silence. Being with them again, with family, after so long surrounded by hostile strangers—it comforted her more than she could have predicted. Every time she closed her eyes, the crunch of their footsteps alongside hers kept her calm, kept her from panicking at the thought of being alone and abandoned.
That was why she was afraid to start asking her father questions. That comfort, that sense of familiarity in having her parents with her. She was terrified it wouldn’t last when she found out just how little she knew about the man who raised her.
But eventually, he broke the quiet himself. “I can’t apologize enough. I should have seen this co
