“Everything.”
For once, my son had chosen the correct answer.
Then another voice came through the phone.
Emma.
“Grandma?”
My heart cracked instantly.
“Hi, sweetheart.”
“Are you mad at me?”
“No.”
The answer came without hesitation.
“Never.”
“Mom said you don’t want to come anymore.”
I closed my eyes.
Of course she had.
“That isn’t what happened.”
“I wanted you to come.”
“I know.”
“Tyler did too.”
In the background, Jessica said something sharply.
Emma whispered faster.
“I’m sorry we didn’t say anything.”
“You have nothing to apologize for.”
“I love you.”
“I love you more.”
Jessica took the phone.
“We’re boarding.”
“Goodbye, Jessica.”
“You really plan to leave us without a hotel?”
“You’re forty-one years old. Kevin is thirty-nine. Between the two of you, I believe you can locate a room.”
“You know Hawaii is expensive.”
“So did I when I paid for it.”
She lowered her voice.
“You’re going to regret this.”
“No.”
For the first time that morning, I knew that with absolute certainty.
“You will.”
“I already regret something.”
“What?”
“How many times I mistook dependence for love.”
I hung up.
Three hours later, I was home.
My house looked exactly as it had when I left before dawn.
Coffee mug in the sink.
Mail on the entry table.
My husband’s old photograph on the piano.
Nothing had changed.
And yet I entered as though I were seeing the rooms for the first time.
