Maxine stared at her hands.
“He told me last week this was all happening because you work too much at the hospital.”
Gretchen closed her eyes a moment.
He’d planted guilt in their daughter to protect his own ego.
“I did work a lot of extra shifts, and our marriage had its problems,” she said gently.
“But nothing makes it okay to lie, hide money, or blame someone else for your own choices.”
Maxine cried, wiping her face with her sleeve.
“I don’t want to hate him.”
“You don’t have to,” Gretchen said.
“You can love your father and still be deeply disappointed in what he did.