My hand stopped on his shoulder.
“What did Dad say?”
“Can we not tell him yet?”
“Tell him what?”
Mr. Harris waited by the door as I gathered Austin’s backpack.
Austin glanced toward the empty front seats.
“That I saw her again.”
“Saw who?”
He shook his head.
Mr. Harris waited by the door as I gathered Austin’s backpack.
“I called ‘last stop’ twice,” he told me. “When I checked on him, he asked me to call you.”
“Are you and Dad happy?”
“You did the right thing,” he added to Austin.
In the car, Austin stared out the window.
“Are you and Dad happy?”
“Why?”
“Just wondering.”
“Marriage isn’t perfect,” I said. “But I love your dad.”
At home, I made hot chocolate. Austin left it untouched and set the blue bag beside his mug.
Daniel and I had been married fourteen years. We argued about work and schedules, but I’d never wondered whether Austin was asking about something he’d actually seen.
He turned back to the window.
At home, I made hot chocolate. Austin left it untouched and set the blue bag beside his mug.
“Where did you get that?”
“Dad gave it to me yesterday.”
“Dad shoved the bag into my backpack before you got there.”
Daniel had taken him for pizza after soccer practice.
“I saw you coming to get my cleats from the trunk,” Austin said. “Dad shoved the bag into my backpack before you got there. He said it was a birthday surprise for a coworker’s son.”
I remembered being distracted by the cleats and telling Austin to take his things inside. I hadn’t noticed Daniel slipping anything into his backpack.
Daniel had lingered beside the car afterward.
“I did open it, though. After what I saw today.”
“He said he’d take it back tonight. I wasn’t supposed to open it.”
“Why?”
“Because he trusted me.”
Austin stared at the torn handle.
“I did open it, though. After what I saw today.”
He pushed it toward me.
Happy birthday, Noah. Love, Dad.
Inside were a toy truck and an opened birthday card.
Happy birthday, Noah. Love, Dad.
I read it twice.
“Who’s Noah?”
“Melissa’s kid. The lady I saw today.”
Before I could ask more, Austin said, “Remember when Dad took me to the mall?”
“He told Noah to stop being silly. Later, he said Melissa was an old friend and Noah was confused.”
Three weeks earlier, Daniel had bought him sneakers while I visited my sister.
“We stopped for lunch. Dad said someone wanted to say hello. It was Melissa and her little boy, Noah. Dad bought us ice cream.”
“She asked what subjects I liked,” Austin said. “Dad kept answering before I could. Noah stayed close to him the whole time.”
Austin pulled his sleeves over his hands.
“Noah called Dad ‘Daddy.'”
I kept the card on the table. “What did Dad say?”
“Dad said you wouldn’t understand if I told you. He said it could destroy our family.”
“He told Noah to stop being silly. Later, he said Melissa was an old friend and Noah was confused.”
“Did you believe him?”
“Noah didn’t sound confused.”
Austin rubbed his eyes.
“Dad said you wouldn’t understand if I told you. He said it could destroy our family.”
