She nods sadly. “I confronted my dad about it shortly after I got that call. He told me that, when she left, he decided she was dead to him, so he just told me as much. I didn’t think there was anything worse than losing a parent so early. Turns out, it’s preferable to discovering that your mother abandoned you without thinking twice about it.”
“Oh, hon, you don’t know that.”
I check myself. This is not the time to try to justify Rowan’s mother’s choices. “Have… have you spoken to your mother?”
“f**k no!” she says. “I hung up on Grace, too. She called a few more times, but I didn’t pick up. I think she’s got the message now. She hasn’t tried to contact me in months.”
Rowan exhales slowly, and I get the impression that maybe a small part of her is disappointed that she hasn’t gotten a c
