“I was nine and fell in the mine,” I argued. “Cam was the one who found me and brought me home after—” I dropped Charity’s hand and put my napkin on the table. It didn’t matter how many times I went over the events of that day; Dad would always side with Xander and against Cam. “And it was Cam who carried me out of that fire when I lost track of Sully. Cam, Mom, not Sullivan. And it was almost ten years ago!” Almost ten years since I left the white onyx bishop on Cam’s dashboard when he wouldn’t let me thank him.

“I know how you feel about him,” Mom whispered.

“Well, that makes one of us,” I muttered and stood.

“For the love of God, Willow, that skirt can’t possibly pass the fingertip test.” Mom’s lips pursed.

“It doesn’t,” I assured her, dropping my hands straight down my thighs to show her that it was a few inches shorter than her ridiculous mandate.

“I had a child out of wedlock,” Charity blurted, standing next to me.

Mom sighed, waving us off as she stood up. “This is not a competition. Now, both of you get home. The snow’s coming down heavy, and it looks like the wet stuff. I’ll handle the dishes…and your father.”

We kissed her cheeks, and after Charity had Rose buttoned up, we escaped out the garage door. One look at the accumulating snow and Rose’s dress shoes, and Charity hefted Rose into her arms.

“Crap, she wasn’t kidding,” Charity groaned as she trekked through the water-laden snow. We were up to at least five inches already.

“Here.” I scrambled, slipping twice as I got ahead of her to open Charity’s back door. “In you go, Rosie. Love you.” I pressed a quick kiss to her forehead.

“Love you!” she called back.

“I have to stop feeding you so much,” Charity complained with a grin as she lifted Rose into the SUV. “Buckle up, buttercup.” She shut the door, leaving us standing in the silence that only comes with snowfall. “It used to be easier to carry her.”

“She used to be smaller.” A wave of gratitude hit me—I’d be around to see her grow again. She’d shot up in the four years I’d been gone. “You spoke to Dad.”

“You defied him.”

We both nodded and then hugged, holding each other tight.

“I should have said something earlier, about Cam and Sully,” I admitted into my sister’s hair.

She squeezed me closer. “You did what you could when you could.”

“I should have said something earlier about you, too. About you and Rose. I never should have stayed quiet and let him shun you. I was just trying to keep the peace, but it was wrong.”