“You’re still family,” she told me.
“Ryan will be there,” I said.
“I know.”
“With her.”
Elaine was quiet for a moment. Then she said, “Don’t let him push you out of places where you belong.”
I wanted to be brave.
Instead, I hired Daniel.
On the drive, I apologized for traffic, the air conditioning, my daughter’s fingerprints on his window, and anything else my anxious mind could find.
Daniel didn’t comment. He just answered the kids’ questions.
Yes, he had acted in commercials.
No, he wasn’t famous.
Yes, he had once played a pirate at a dental convention.
“With a sword?” my daughter asked.
“With a toothbrush,” Daniel said.
For the first time all day, the car filled with laughter.
SEE YOU NEXT PSGE
