I introduced myself by my first name and told her she didn't have to call me anything or hug me.
She asked whether I had really written the terrible letter, and I answered no without trying to soften what happened.
Then I showed her the photographs of my surgical discharge papers from that same week, explaining only what she wanted to hear.
Sadie studied them carefully before asking whether Julian had lied about me because he didn't want her in his family.
I wanted to deny something so cruel, but Mara had taught me that this girl deserved honesty more than comforting inventions.
I said Julian had made choices that hurt people, and that neither Sadie nor her baby sister had caused those choices.
She looked toward her mother, then asked whether I would disappear once I realized she wasn't easy to take places.
I told her about Noah's endless soccer games and admitted I wasn't always good at keeping up with energetic children.
