Chapter 12 - Victoria Meets Claire in Vermont
Two days later, Victoria drove to Vermont.
Andrew did not insist on coming.
Lily stayed safely with Margaret.
Victoria wanted the first meeting alone.
Claire opened the door of a modest farmhouse.
She looked older than the photograph.
Real.
Victoria stared.
Then she asked:
“Why didn’t you fight harder for me?”
Claire cried.
“I thought staying away was fighting for you.”
“That wasn’t your decision to make.”
“I know.”
Victoria did not run into her arms.
Not immediately.
They talked for six hours.
Claire admitted her mistakes.
She had been frightened.
She had trusted Evelyn too long.
She had accepted a false identity and eventually became afraid that
returning would expose Victoria to scandal.
Protection became avoidance.
Avoidance became years.
Before Victoria left, Claire held out the matching half of a childhood
necklace.
Victoria had worn the other half until college.
This time, Victoria hugged her mother.
May you like
Not because twenty-two years were repaired.
Because she wanted to know what could still be built.
