“It is about everything, Sarah,” he said, his breath hitching. “It is about the last ten years.”

The wind gusted on his end, muffling his voice for a brief second.

“I wanted to apologize,” he said.

I sat up straight in my chair.

“Apologize for what?” I asked.

“For staying quiet,” he said. “For always looking at my shoes when your mother started screaming at you.”

He paused, and I heard him take a shaky breath.

“I let her push you out of this family because it was easier than fighting her,” he said.

“You did,” I said, my voice flat. “You let her treat me like an outsider because I didn’t want her lifestyle.”

“I know,” he said. “And I will live with that regret for the rest of my life.”

“Why tell me this now, Dad?” I asked, looking out at the darkened Stanford campus.

“Because she is doing it again,” he said. “Only this time, she is doing it to Derek.”

I held my breath.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Derek got an offer last week,” my father said. “A real offer.”