She sniffles, and the sound goes straight to my heart, but it’s not only pain there. It’s anger on Grace’s behalf. “Want me to beat her up for you?” I ask deadpan. I wouldn’t actually hurt a child, but it does make Grace huff out a tiny laugh, which was my true goal.
She makes it sound like a cult, but as I look around the table, meeting the eyes of each of the women, it feels like… family and home. And I really don’t want the feeling to ever end.
“And sometimes, the bad things put us on an entirely different path than we ever thought we’d be on. That’s not good or bad, it’s just… different, and that’s okay too.”
“Dad, bad things just happen sometimes, and they put us on a new and different path than we thought we’d be on, and that’s okay. Riley taught me that.”