Her father stepped forward. “Heather I can—”
Her eyes glared at him. “I have nothing to say to you. You ruined this family!” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “You ruined me! I don’t trust people because of you! I can’t even… I can’t…” She backed away even further. “I need to get out of here.”
She hurried to the couch for her coat.
“Heather don’t leave,” her mother said.
“You’re both crazy,” she said as she headed out the door. Thankfully, Sonia just pulled into the driveway. Heather motioned for her to stay inside the car. Sonia didn’t move but unlocked the door.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Take me home, please, and if you know what’s good for you, you won’t go back to that house.”
“Heather you’re not making sense.”
“Just drive!” She covered her face with her hands.
“What’s going on?”
Heather ran her fingers down her face.
Sonia steered down the street. “Heather?”
Her head jerked towards her. “Did you know about this?”
Her sister glanced at her and then back at the road ahead.
Heather shook her head. “You did, didn’t you? You knew it was him the whole time and didn’t tell me?”
“Not the entire time.”
“How long have you known?”
“The last few weeks.”
“Sonia!”
“What? Mom swore me to secrecy.”
Heather’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you kidding me? Why wouldn’t you tell me? I had to find out like this!”
“Calm down,” Sonia said.
Heather’s muscles quivered. “You knew and didn’t tell me. Mom’s been dating our absentee father all this time. What makes her think he won’t leave again?”
Her sister shrugged. “I don’t know but she wants to give it another shot.”
“Have you talked to him?” Heather asked.
“Not yet, but I have read more of his letters.”
Heat flushed through Heather’s body. “Why would you do that? It’s all lies! I don’t care what he said. Once a liar, always a liar.”
“Heather you don’t know why—”
“I know! The man left without explanation. Do you remember how hard Mom worked to take care of us? We struggled most of our lives. He did that. He destroyed this family to do whatever he wanted.”
Sonia’s lips pressed together in a tight grimace. “I’m not saying he hasn’t made mistakes, but his letters say a lot. Why don’t you read them?”