I already knew what I was going to do.
She nodded.
I went into the kitchen and started preparing a meal.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
“Why was I always the one you kept at a distance?” I suddenly asked.
My mother looked away.
“Oh, Miranda, that’s not—”
“No,” I said gently but firmly. “Please don’t brush it off.”
She stayed quiet.
My mother looked away.
Finally, she sighed.
“You reminded me of the moment your father left,” she continued. “The bills and fear. It all happened at once. And you were there, right in the middle of it.”
I just listened.
Her voice cracked.
“It wasn’t because of who you are, just wrong timing. I thought if I didn’t get too close, it wouldn’t hurt as much.”
The words affected me more than I expected.
She hadn’t acted out of rejection, but for protection.
“It all happened at once.”
