“I don't know whether to be grateful or angry,” she whispered.
“You can be both.”
Emma looked up.
Elisabeth continued.
“Your father did important things to protect you. He also made a choice that prevented you from knowing part of your history. Recognizing one doesn't mean you have to deny the other.”
Emma considered that.
She had spent most of her life believing that love and disappointment could not exist together.
Michael had been her protector.
Her safe place.
The person who never abandoned her.
How could she be angry with someone who had given her so much?
But perhaps loving someone did not require pretending that every decision they made was perfect.
“Did Helena ever contact him again?” Emma asked.
“Not directly, as far as I know.”
“Did Lucas know about her visit?”
“I can't say.”
Emma looked at the photographs.
One showed Helena standing beside a teenage boy.
