Winona couldn’t answer right away. Her son’s question was simple, but the weight behind it pressed against her chest like a stone. She already knew the truth. She just couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud. If she admitted she didn’t like the idea, then Jackson would lose his chance to know his father.

And she was terrified that one day, when he was older and understood more, he would start asking why.

Why hadn’t his dad been there?

Why had she kept them apart?

She swallowed ...