« I haven’t seen him like this since Christmas. »
« Worth every skipped dinner. »
I laughed quietly, wiping the corner of my eye before he could see. « Every single one. »
He’d been counting down the days.
A few loungers down, the silver-haired woman had settled in with her book. But her gaze wasn’t on the water. It was fixed, steady, and patiently set on the woman with the designer sandals, who was just then arranging her tote on the lounger beside ours.
I didn’t pay attention to that either. I was too busy watching my boy float a few feet away, humming to the sky, finally, finally at peace.
I closed my eyes for a moment, believing the hardest part of our year was already behind us.
Her gaze wasn’t on the water.
I was still smiling when a shadow fell across my lounge chair.
I looked up, squinting into the sun, and there she was. The same woman from the front desk, sunglasses perched high, her designer sandals catching the light as if she’d polished them for the walk over.
