Dad appeared on the screen, seated at his workbench. The crib behind him was still unfinished.
He looked older.
“Chloe,” he said, “I’m sorry this is happening while I’m no longer there to answer for my part in it.”
My throat tightened.
Greg stared at the floor.
“Greg, I asked you three times to tell your sister the truth. You promised me you would.”
“Turn it off,” Greg said.
I looked at him. “Why?”
He shook his head. “Chloe, please.”
Ms. Richards kept the recording playing.
“Since you chose silence,” Dad said, “I’ve chosen witnesses.”
Greg covered his face with both hands.
Dad continued.
“Chloe didn’t abandon this family or ignore your invitations.”
Aunt Sandy stepped closer. “What does he mean?”
“Greg changed messages,” Dad said. “He told Chloe you wanted distance. Then he told you Chloe did.”
“I called you three times on my birthday, before we sat down to dinner.”
“Greg said you’d gone away for your birthday. He told me that Dad told him.”
“I never left home, honey.”
“He told me you didn’t want to attend my wedding.”
I faced Greg. “You said she wanted immediate family only.”
Sadie’s voice broke. “You are immediate family, Chloe. You’re the closest thing I have to a sister.”
I turned to Uncle Nolan. “Greg said Thanksgiving was canceled because you were ill.”
“We waited for you.”
“I made a pie,” I told Greg. “I sat at home eating it in my dinner dress because you told me everyone wanted to be with their families.”
“Then explain Aunt Sandy’s birthday. Explain Sadie’s wedding. Explain why everyone thought I stayed away.”
Dad’s voice filled the silence.
“I believed Greg at first because he made every lie sound like kindness.”
I stared at Greg. He hadn’t pushed me out. He’d convinced me I was helping everyone by leaving.
“Don’t call Sandy. She needs rest.”
“Don’t bother Sadie. She’s overwhelmed.”
Dad kept talking.
“Chloe, Greg borrowed money from Sandy, Nolan, and Sadie. He gave them different reasons.”
Uncle Nolan’s face hardened.
I stepped in front of him.
“You’re staying.”
“Chloe, not here.”
“Dad chose here.”
His eyes moved toward the relatives.
Then I understood.
