your hair cut?”
“No! I told her no! I told her about my promise! But she said I was being silly and boys don’t make promises about hair.”
Mark closed his eyes. I could see his jaw working, trying to stay calm for Leo.
“And then the man started cutting and I tried to stop him but Grandma held my hands and told me to be still.”
Mark pulled Leo into his arms and held him tight.
“I’m so sorry, buddy. I’m so, so sorry.”
“Dad,” Leo sobbed. “Why did Grandma cut my promise?”
Mark looked at me over Leo’s head. The expression on his face was something I’d never seen before.
Not anger. Something colder. Something final.
“I’ll take care of this,” he said.
The Preparation
That night, after both kids were asleep, I found Mark at the kitchen table with his laptop open and a yellow legal pad
