For six months, he had been so controlled.
Secretive.
Determined.
Suddenly, he looked thirteen again.
“I thought you needed me.”
I pulled him against me.
“I do.”
He cried into my shoulder.
I held him tighter.
“But I need my son.”
He didn’t move.
“I don’t need another husband.”Marriage
His shoulders shook.
“I don’t need another caretaker.”
I kissed his hair.
“I don’t need you fixing everything your father cannot fix.”
We sat there for a long time.
Finally, Evan whispered:
“What about the people?”
“What about them?”
“We still owe them.”
I smiled.
“No.”
He pulled away.
“We do.”
“Then we’ll do something different.”
“What?”
“We remember them.”
He frowned.
“And when somebody else needs help someday, we help.”
He looked at me.
“That counts?”
“That’s how your dad would’ve done it.”
He studied my face.
“You sure?”
“No.”
That surprised him.
