With that, I turned and walked inside, leaving them on the patio with their thoughts. Inside, I found Lily sitting at the kitchen table, her face buried in her arms. I sat down next to her and pulled her into a comforting embrace.

“We’ll find a way to fix this,” I assured her. “And I’ll make sure they understand how wrong they were.”

She nodded, though her eyes remained downcast. “I just don’t understand why they did it, Mom. It’s not fair.”