Chapter Eighteen

 

 

chapter

EIGHTEEN

 

 

The silence that followed my confession was resounding. It echoed around in my head until sweat misted on my brow.

I opened my eyes to find Isobel watching me, her expression bleak.

She shook her head. “What do you mean?”

Glancing down at my hands, I began to pick at a piece of skin coming loose around a callus on my palm.

“I told you before, I originally went to your dad because of my mom, right?”

She nodded. “What? Is that not true?”

“No, it’s true,” I said. Then I drew in a deep breath and began my story.

“I went to him because she owed him money. He’d given her a loan for her bakery. I swear, she owed everyone money. I have no idea how a single person could rack up that much debt, but she kept it from me for as long as she could. By the time I learned about it, it was out of my control. I sold my truck, sold her house, sold most of our furniture. And it still wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough. After I moved her in with me,