Colin tried to apologize.
Tessa didn’t accept it.
Neither did we.
Graham told him not to contact our daughter again.
After they left, he sat beside Tessa for a long time.
“I should have listened to your mom,” he finally said. “And you should never have had to wonder whether we believed in you.”
Tessa wiped her face.
“Can I still go back?”
The recital auditions were only a week away.
Ms. Hart agreed to give Tessa extra practice time, but she made one thing clear: Tessa would still have to earn her place.
That was exactly what Tessa wanted.
For the next week, our kitchen became a practice room again.
She came home sore and frustrated. Twice she cried because she kept missing the same turn.
But this time, when she wanted to give up, it was because she was tired — not because someone had convinced her she didn’t belong.
