Chapter 19

"Before you left, Gideon came to me. He said he had never slept with her, and the child wasn't his. He had no proof, but he asked me to believe him." Gideon's eyes flew open, entirely bloodshot. He stared hard at my mother, his Adam's apple rolling violently. His voice was as hoarse as if it had been sanded. "Miriam, you... you never told me that back then..." "What good would telling you do?" My mother gently closed her eyes, her voice growing fainter. "Ivy was gone. What would you use to...