Fifteen Years After My Father Changed the Locks, He Seated Me at Table Twenty-Two

She lifted the hem of her white dress off the carpet and looked Gerald directly in the eyes.

“I have a home, Dad,” Clare said.

“And David is waiting for me at our table.”

Gerald reached out his right hand to grab her forearm.

“I raised you,” Gerald growled.

“I paid for every year of your life in this town.”

Clare stepped back smoothly, moving completely out of his reach, and linked her left arm through my right.

“Evelyn raised me,” Clare said.