PART 2

Sophie held the faded pink shovel in her lap during the drive. Caleb wore headphones in the back seat, although I could tell no music was playing. When we finally pulled into the beach house driveway, Linda was already walking toward us.

She stopped in front of me.

“I owe you much more than an apology.”

“Yes, you do. And I want everything said openly. No whispers. No excuses. No pretending this was some misunderstanding.”

“You have my word.”

When Sophie stepped from the car, Linda looked as though she wanted to hug her but stopped herself.

“Sophie, I am so sorry. I truly believed you weren’t here because your mother wanted distance. I never knew you thought we didn’t want you.”

Sophie held the shovel against her side.

“You never called me.”

Linda flinched.

“No. I didn’t. That was my mistake.”

Nathan’s father, Thomas, appeared on the porch as Caleb climbed from the car.

“Claire? What’s happening?”

“Nathan told my children that you didn’t want them here.”

Thomas’s face went pale.

“He told us you refused to come.”

Before I could respond, the screen door opened and Aurora stepped outside. She looked at me, then Sophie and Caleb, and immediately understood something was wrong.

“Claire, I thought you knew Ava and I came every year. Linda told me about your call.”

“I knew Nathan had a past. I didn’t know he was using that past as an excuse to leave his own children out of his present.”

Aurora shook her head.

“I thought I was respecting your wishes.”

“I never made those wishes.”

“I’m sorry.”

Ava appeared behind her mother, looking confused and embarrassed. I knew immediately that none of this belonged on her shoulders.

“I don’t want any of our children blamed for Nathan’s lies.”

Aurora nodded.

“Neither do I.”

Linda glanced toward the house.

“Nathan is inside. Dinner just started.”

I looked at Sophie and Caleb.

“You don’t have to go in.”

Sophie shook her head.

“I want to hear what he says.”

Caleb moved closer to me.

“I’ll stay with you.”

We walked inside together.

Nathan sat near the head of the dining table laughing with his sister. The moment he saw us, his smile disappeared.

“Claire?”

“You forgot to mention a few details about your family tradition.”

He pushed his chair backward.

“This is not the time.”

“That has been your answer for eleven years.”

His eyes moved toward his mother.

“Mom, what did you do?”

Linda stepped beside me.

“I told Claire the truth.”

“You had no right.”

I almost couldn’t believe him.

“No right? You told me your family didn’t want us here. You told them I refused to come. You gave everyone a different story so nobody would ever compare notes.”

Nathan lifted his hands.

“I was trying to keep the peace.”

“No. You were trying to keep control.”

He looked toward Aurora.

“Ava needed stability after the divorce. Aurora was already comfortable with everyone. I didn’t want things to become awkward.”

Aurora immediately stepped forward.

“Do not blame this on Ava or me.”

Nathan turned toward her.

“Aurora—”

“No. You told me Claire wanted distance. If I had known you were deliberately excluding Sophie and Caleb, I never would have accepted this.”

I squeezed Sophie’s hand.

“Ava deserved stability. But Sophie and Caleb deserved grandparents too.”

Nathan rubbed his forehead.

“I didn’t know how to fix it once it started.”

“You knew exactly how. Tell the truth.”

Thomas looked directly at his son.

“Were Claire and the children ever actually invited?”

Nathan looked at his father, then at me, then down at the table.

He said nothing.

His silence answered everything.

Sophie stepped forward.

“When I was little, I thought Grandma didn’t like me.”

Nathan’s face crumpled.

“Sophie, sweetheart—”

“Then I got older, and I started wondering if maybe you didn’t like me either.”

He reached toward her, but she stepped back.

“Did you know I stopped asking to come because I couldn’t stand hearing no anymore?”

“I love you.”

Caleb pressed against my side.

“Mom, can we go home?”

“Yes.”

Nathan panicked.

“Claire, wait. We need to talk.”

“We have talked. For years. You just called it nagging whenever I asked questions you didn’t want to answer.”

Linda looked at her son.

“You’re not staying here tonight.”

“I’m your son.”

“And those are my grandchildren. All of them.”

Thomas nodded.

“From now on, if we want to see Sophie and Caleb, we call Claire directly.”

Aurora took Ava’s hand.

“We’re leaving too.”

Ava looked at Sophie.

“I thought you didn’t want to know me.”

Sophie swallowed.

“I thought you were the reason Dad didn’t want us here.”

“I didn’t know.”

“I know.”

Sophie placed the old pink shovel on the floor beside her.

It wasn’t forgiveness.

But for the first time, it was the truth.

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