I could still see it, golden and perfect.
He had come back.
That didn’t mean I trusted him again.
I could still see it,
“I’m going to recover at my mom’s,” I said. “And I’ll decide about us when I’m ready. Not when you are.”
Andrew stood very still.
Then he nodded, once.
“I’ll decide about us.”
He looked at the girls for a long moment, touched one tiny foot with a trembling finger, and went to the door.
“I love you,” he said.
“I know,” I said. It was true, and it wasn’t enough.
He left.
“I love you,”
My mother moved the water and the caramel bar within reach, then sat beside me.
One of the girls began to fuss.
“Mom, can you help me lift her?”
“Of course, sweetheart.”
One of the girls began to fuss.
She slid a hand beneath my daughter’s head, waiting until I had her settled before letting go.
