at me again.
“How could you not know?”
“Grandma arranged it. The information we were given didn’t identify Anna. I believed what I was told.”
Rebecca began to read.
I watched her pause at Carol’s name. Her mouth tightened. She turned one page over, then brought it back as if she needed to be certain she hadn’t misunderstood.
“Mom knew?”
“Yes.”
“The whole time?”
I nodded.
She pressed her palm against her eyes.
“When I asked about my birth mother, she said giving me up had been an act of love. She told me I shouldn’t feel unwanted.”
“You weren’t unwanted.”
My voice broke, and I tried again.
“Anna asked for me. She wanted help. She was frightened, and people she should have been able to trust used that against her.”
Rebecca sat very still.
“Did Mom think she was protecting me?”
I wanted to give her an answer that
