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Not during Sally’s attack.

Not during Sam’s response.

Not even when his daughter walked away.

Looked like I needed to have words with him as well. This was unacceptable.

Jordan stood frozen with one hand over his mouth while Eric was staring off toward where Sam had gone. He was officially the only member of Sam’s family that I liked.

I looked at Sally. At the woman who had been cold to Sam from the moment she’d arrived, who had ignored her, dismissed her, performed warmth for neighbors while freezing out her own daughter behind closed doors. The woman who, five minutes ago, had told a twenty-two-year-old that she wished she’d died.

Absolutely fucking not.

I’d been patient this entire trip. I’d watched, catalogued, and held my tongue because it wasn’t my family, and Sam hadn’t asked me to fight her battles. I’d sat through awkward meals with loaded silences and watched the way Greg couldn’t hold his daughter’s gaze. I’d watched Sally direct kindness and respect to everyone in the room except the one person who needed it most.

I was done.

“Mrs. Lowe.”

Sally lifted her head from Greg’s chest, her cheeks wet and her eyes red-rimmed. When her gaze met mine, her face paled.

Good. She should feel ashamed right now.

“She was seventeen.” My voice was calm and steady, not giving away any of the rage I felt on Sam’s behalf. “Sam was seventeen years old when that accident happened. She was a kid who wanted to go to a skating competition. That’s it. That’s the entire scope of her crime.”

Sally opened her mouth.

“I’m not finished.”

She closed it.

“Your daughter has spent five years destroying herself with guilt. She left her home, her family, and everything she knew because she believed she deserved to be punished. And tonight, you just confirmed every terrible thing she’s ever believed about herself. You told your daughter it should have been her. Your living, breathing daughter who has spent half a decade wishing the exact same thing.”

Finally Sally flinched.

“I can’t imagine the pain of losing a son and I won’t pretend to. But you’ve also been losing your daughter for five years, and that part is a choice. You chose to stop looking at her. You chose to stop reaching out. You chose to let her believe she wasn’t worth forgiving.”

Greg still hadn’t spoken, but his face crumbled with his own shame.

“You had a chance to fix what was broken. And instead you chose to lose another child.”

Sally and Greg stared at me like they couldn’t believe what I’d just said.

Jordan dropped his hand from his mouth. His jaw was tight and his eyes glassy with his own emotions. “He’s right, Mom.”

Sally’s gaze snapped to him.

“He’s right,” Jordan repeated, steadier this time. “I brought Sam home because I thought if you just saw her and spent some time with her, you’d remember that she’s still your daughter.” He shook his head like he didn’t recognize his own parents. “If I’d known that you felt like this, I never would’ve put her through this. Enough is enough.”

It was about damn time he said something.

“I wish I could say it was nice meeting you, but it wasn’t. Your daughter is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and it disgusts me that you can’t see the gift that was right in front of you. She’s a light in my life, and I’m more thankful than words could ever express that she survived that crash. That I got the chance to know her and love her. You’ve missed out on a remarkable woman.”

I walked away without waiting for a response. There was nothing they could say that would sway my opinion of them at this point. The only person who mattered had already left. I headed toward the park entrance, scanning the paths for her until I found her on a bench near the edge of the park.

Her knees were pulled up to her chest and her arms were wrapped around them, making herself as small as possible. She was shaking—whether from the cold or everything else, I couldn’t tell.

When she heard me coming, she lifted her head. The second her gaze met mine, her lip trembled and her eyes filled with tears.