Grandpa continued.
“After Caleb’s mother died, William started pursuing your mother. Sarah refused him, so he fired her and made sure no decent family in the county would hire her again.”
“I remember yelling,” I whispered.
A memory flashed.
“A man yelling at Mom in a doorway.”
“That was William. I confronted him once. Caleb was there, holding onto the banister and watching us.”
Tears burned my eyes.
“I forgot all of this. I forgot everything.”
“Your mother packed you into the car that week. We never spoke about that family in this house again.”
“But Caleb is not William.”
“He is William’s son.”
Grandpa’s voice hardened.
“After what his father did to your mother, I didn’t care to find out whether Caleb was any different.”
I looked down at my daughter.
“Then he disappeared the second you told him about the baby,” Grandpa added more softly. “Emily, sweetheart, I thought that proved me right.”
