“I know I didn’t. But on the drive home, I realized something. She had actually helped me, after all. Twice in my life, to be exact. When I was a baby, she had given me up by signing away her rights, which allowed me to be adopted by the best parents anyone could ever ask for. And twenty years later, this same woman told me the truth about how I ended up in foster care when she didn’t have to.” Her voice softened. “For those two things, I’ll always be grateful.”

He stared at her slack-jawed. “You’re a much kinder person than I am, Preslee. The way you look at things amazes me at times. I don’t know that I could be that forgiving.”

“It’s not easy. I wanted to hate her.”

“With good reason,” he said, nodding. “But I bet your dad was proud of how you handled that situation.”

More tears filled her eyes, and regret coursed through her. Damn it. She didn’t want Adam to see her looking so weak and defeated. In the past, he’d always brought out her strong side. She didn’t like feeling vulnerable in front of him. “I…didn’t tell my dad. He doesn’t even know that I found my bio mom.”

Confusion lit his eyes. “How come?”

She shrugged. “I was afraid that he would think that he wasn’t enough of a parent for me and that it was the reason I went looking for my biological mother in the first place. None of which is true. So I kept quiet.”

A frown crossed Adam’s face. “That’s not healthy, honey.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

“Why did you go looking for your biological mother?”

Preslee hesitated. “Because I wanted to know that she cared. That I mattered to her. To someone. But it was a lost cause. She never cared about me. Not when she left me in the arms of a supposed drug dealer who happened to be an undercover cop, not when she left me in foster care, and not when I was sitting in a diner eight years ago watching her walk away from me for the last time. The woman just didn’t give a damn.”

“Now something inside of you thinks everyone is going to leave. Like she did. And you blame yourself for that. Because why would anyone want you when your own biological mother didn’t even want you. Am I right?”

Her head snapped to him, her voice trembling. “What? No.”

“Yes,” he said, nodding slowly as if he was waiting for it to sink in. “That’s what you think. But it’s not true, Preslee. It’s not your fault that she left.”

“I never said it was.”

“You didn’t have to. But that is what you believe.”

Preslee held up a hand. “Okay, slow your roll, Dr. Phil. Stop trying to psychoanalyze me.”