My throat tightened.
“Yes.”
He covered his eyes.
I let him sit there.
After a while, he lowered his hands.
“Mom, I’m sorry.”
This time, he didn’t add that Vanessa had been stressed.
He didn’t call it a joke.
He didn’t ask me to consider how embarrassed she felt.
He simply apologized.
I reached across the table and touched his wrist.
“Thank you.”
He looked relieved.
Then I added, “But I need some space.”
His expression fell.
“How much?”
“I don’t know yet.”
He nodded.
“I’ll respect that.”
Before leaving, he stopped beside the family photographs.
He picked up the picture of Richard teaching him to ride a bicycle.
“Dad would have been furious with me.”
I looked at the photograph.
“Your father would have wanted you to behave better. But you’re responsible for what you do now, whether he’s here to see it or not.”
Daniel set the picture down.
Then he kissed my cheek and left.
I watched his car pull away.
For once, he hadn’t asked me to reassure him that everything was fine.
It wasn’t fine.
But at least we’d spoken honestly.
