Chapter Thirteen
The last day I spent in bed after Mama died Daddy came to me, his expression dark. He studied me with a grave finality, and I felt that deep pull to please him.
The bed dipped as he sat on the side.
“Look at what she did to us, Avery. She shouldn’t have gone that night. This is happening because she left.”
My eyes are wide. He was sad when we got the call about Mama. Desperate when he begged me to eat. I’d never seen him angry like this. “It wasn’t her fault.”
His gaze lands on me, a strange intensity. “You won’t leave, will you?” When I don’t answer right away, he demands, “Will you?”
My tummy clenches. “I won’t, Daddy.”
He regards me with approval. “There’s my good girl. This is where you’re safe.”
It seemed to be true. My childhood here was marked by kind smiles
