“The guilt would have to be terrible, at least for someone like me,” Tia explained. “Maybe it’s just...easier for her to leave the past in the past, pretend she never even had another son. What about your brothers? Do you ever hear from them?”

“Occasionally—and of course it’s at my favorite time of the year.”

“Christmas,” she guessed.

When he nodded, she understood he had many reasons for hating the holidays. He probably hadn’t received much for Christmas after his mother abandoned him. When others gathered happily with their families, it was probably just a reminder of the family he didn’t have. No wonder he couldn’t hear a Christmas carol without wincing. “One or both of them?”

“Both of them. One usually tries to call or text and does so at other times of the year, too—occasionally on my birthday. The other just sends me a card with a picture of his beautiful family.”

Maybe coming to Silver Springs was as much an escape for him as it was for her. “Do you ever respond?”

“No,” he said.

“Why not?”

“I don’t know.” He took a drink of his wine. “Anyway, back to your sister. How’s she doing now?”

Changing the subject was an evasive maneuver, and Tia knew it, but Seth was so sensitive about his past, she didn’t want to force him to discuss it. “I wish I could tell you. She doesn’t confide in me anymore. Her husband and my parents have her convinced I’m trying to tempt her away from all that is good and holy, even though she was the one who came to me for help to begin with.”

“That’s probably the only way she can hang on.”

Tia understood that, but it didn’t make the situation any easier. “I guess.” Since she was getting too hot, she got out of the water and sat on the edge. “Maybe I was wrong to help her. I was just doing what I thought was best at the time, but...what happened couldn’t have helped her relationship with her husband.”

“Sounds like she’s angry because you got away and she didn’t,” he said.

“And now my attempt to help her has made her life that much harder.”

He got out and sat on the edge, too. “When I looked you up online, I didn’t learn any of this. I’m surprised there isn’t more in the media about your background.”

“I’ve been careful to keep my family out of the news,” she explained. “Not because I’m embarrassed of them, although I would hate having every media interview focus on the way I was raised. I’ve tried to keep them out of the spotlight because they’re embarrassed of me.”

“Given the way most people would react, that’s ironic.”

“I even changed my name once I got to LA.”