That means you won’t lie,” she said.
“No,” I said. “I won’t lie.”
She stepped forward and hugged me.
It was sudden, brief, and so careful that it broke my heart. Her arms touched my shoulders as if she expected to be told she had done it wrong.
I froze for half a second.
Then I wrapped one arm around her gently.
Owen watched.
Then he stepped in too, Captain pressed between us.
For one minute, the noise of O’Hare disappeared.
There was only the weight of two children who had been left behind and the terrible privilege of being someone they had decided, for reasons I did not deserve, might come back.
When Maya led them away, Owen turned three times.
Lily turned once.
I stood there until they disappeared through the sliding doors.
Marco did not speak.
Good.
If he had, I might have broken something.
That night,
