Chapter 26 - DANIEL AND MARGARETDaniel did not speak to Margaret for almost a year.
Then letters.
Then one therapist-mediated meeting.
He asked:
“Did Dad know?”
Margaret cried.
“I think he suspected.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“No. I never told him the truth.”
Daniel looked away.
“Did you love him?”
“Yes.”
“Thomas?”
“No.”
“Then why protect the secret this long?”
Margaret answered:
“Because every year made telling harder.”
Daniel laughed without humor.
“That’s what I did with Claire.”
Exactly.
Doubt.
Silence.
Delay.
Then the secret acquires weight simply because it has survived.
Daniel said:
“You taught me that admitting something late is worse than continuing to hide it.”
Margaret whispered:
“I know.”
They did not hug.
No reconciliation montage.
Eventually Daniel allowed limited contact with Margaret in his own life.
Sophie remained separate.
May you like
Her access would never be decided by Daniel’s loneliness.
That was growth.
