My daughter Emma used to tell me everything—until she didn’t. She began pulling away, retreating to her room with a locked door and one-word answers. I missed the small things: her laughter, our kitchen talks, peeling apples together.One night, desperate and worried, I slipped a tissue into her door latch before she closed it. Later, I quietly turned the knob—and found her laughing with a boy.
A boy who should never have been there.His name was Caleb. Emma said they were just talking. But I knew that boy’s father. Wade. The man who once promised me everything—then vanished, only to build a life with someone else. Caleb’s mother.Old pain surged. I told her she couldn’t see him again. She ran away the next morning, showing up at Caleb’s house. I went to bring her home—and there he was. Wade. Standing in the hallway, as if the past had walked into the present.Emma asked me why I hated Caleb. I told her the truth: I didn’t hate him—I feared the pain he unknowingly represented. I didn’t want her heartbroken like I once was.She looked at me and said quietly, “But I like him.”That night, I knocked on her door. This time, she let me in. I told her she could see Caleb. Her tears fell fast—but they were mixed with relief. Then she hugged me and whispered, “I just wanted you to see me.”“I see you now,” I said.And for the first time in a long while, we left the door open.
