The morning after Mikel's texts, I woke up and Emma wasn't in her bed. I freaked out for a second, then heard her chatting away in the kitchen, all excited like she was having a serious make-believe conversation.
I threw on my robe and went to the kitchen, stopping at the door to listen.
"And then you could teach me to drive!" Emma was saying, drawing patterns in her eggs with her fork. "Not now, 'cause I'm only five, but when I'm bigger. Like, six?" She stopped, tilting her head like she was listening to someone. "Oh, okay. Sixteen it is! That's, like, super old."
She was talking to the empty chair across from her – the same one Mikel always sat in when we were married.
"Emma?" I walked into the kitchen, trying to sound casual. "Who are you talking to, sweetie?"
She looked up at me
