"And sent someone after you?"
"Then what happened at Walmart?"
"Frank. To bring me home before I reached you."
"So?"
"I panicked. I hid the ring behind the candy and let Frank take me to the car. Then I begged him to let me go back for my wallet."
"And Ellie found it."
"Yes."
"I panicked."
"The phone call?"
"Dad. He was furious."
"You told me Ellie saved your life."
"She saved something I could never replace. That ring was Mom’s last wish for Claire’s child." Her eyes filled. "And I’d already failed Claire."
"How?"
"She saved something I could never replace."
"She wrote me a year before she died. I never answered."
"Why not?"
"Dad threatened to cut off anyone who contacted her. The house. The company. My kids’ tuition."
"So you chose the money."
"I chose the easy thing. I regret it."
"Nate says your father doesn’t want Ellie."