sure it was normal for someone to be so sweet, so passive all the time.
“You might not need him,” she said, hoping she was saying the right thing, praying she handled this the right way for both Bree’s and Neil’s sakes, “but, honey, he is your father—”
“You don’t like him, either,” Bree snapped.
Maddie felt Neil’s quick, sharp glance. “I never said I didn’t like him,” she told Bree.
Rolling her eyes, Bree crossed her arms. “You didn’t have to. It’s obvious. You told me I didn’t have to go to Seattle if I didn’t want, that you’d tell him I had school. And you never talk about him. You never talk about when you two were together.”
“That’s because it’s all in the past.”
Except, she wasn’t sure she believed it. Not after her and Neil’s little sexcapade the other night. Not when she’d been thinking about him so often. It scared her, especially after she’d spent such a huge chunk of her life mooning over him, wanting him to love her as much as she loved him. Now he was back—in her way, in her face and, despite her best intentions, despite how exhausted she was each night, in her dreams.
“No, it’s not,” Bree said, a stubborn tilt to her chin. “It’s because you’re mad at him for leaving us.”
Well aware that Neil was an avid audience—and the entire reason for this little familial drama—Maddie let out a long, slow breath. “I was mad at your dad, have been mad at him for a long time. Too long. But I’m not now.”
Bree’s look was one of pure suspicion. “You’re not?”
“You’re not?” Neil asked, as if he, too, didn’t believe her.
She’d had a right to her anger, hadn’t she? Part of her even wished she could hold on to it for a little while longer. It protected her from the pain, from allowing herself to soften toward Neil now. Made it so much easier to keep believing he hadn’t changed, that if he got close to her or Bree, he’d hurt them.
Made it that much easier to believe keeping Bree from him was the right thing to do.
“I’m not,” Maddie said, only able to hold Neil’s gaze for a second before facing Bree. “Look, your father and I both made mistakes—”
“Like me,” Bree said, her mouth wobbling. “I was the mistake.”
Maddie’s own eyes stung. “Oh, baby—”
“You,” Neil said, his voice rough, adamant, “were not a mistake.”
It was far from a declaration of love, didn’t even come close to being an apology. But in that instance, while Bree looked torn between disbelief and hope, as Neil towered over her, all broad shoulders and dark scowl, Maddie knew, in her heart, that he meant it. She also knew that he meant what he couldn’t say.
You’re important to me. You’re special. I love you.
He should be able to tell their daughter what she meant to him, should be able to open up his heart, give Bree the assurances she needed to hear.
Still, Maddie couldn’t hold back any longer.
After twelve years, countless tears—hers and Bree’s—after all the anger and resentment, the heartbreak and disappointments, she did what she’d never been able to do before.
She forgave him.
She had to. It was the only way she could move forward. It was the only way she was finally able to forgive herself.
Unfortunately, Bree didn’t seem so inclined. She was back to glaring at Neil, expecting more from him, unable to see that this might be all she ever got. Maddie rubbed her forehead. She had to take care of this. That was what she did. Took care of her daughter, was used to being solely responsible for everything where her daughter was concerned.
She glanced at Neil. Except that was changing.
It wouldn’t be easy for either her or Bree to accept. Guess they’d just have to get used to it.
“Your dad’s right,” Maddie told Bree. “You weren’t a mistake. But what you did today, leaving without telling anyone where you went, talking to a stranger? Those were big old blunders.”
“Mo-om,” Bree said, drawing the most fabulous word in the world out until it was at least four syllables.
“Breanne. Like how I tied those together? Circled back to what started this conversation?”
“Not really,” Bree grumbled.
“Sorry, kiddo. Life’s tough that way. Now you will be punished—not only for how you took off at the park, but for talking to your father the way you did.”
Bree’s mouth dropped open. “That’s not—”
“Fair,” Maddie said. “Yes, I know. Unfortunately, it’s time you learned a very valuable