Jacob
I called Leah after school because I had told Bella I would.
Leah answered on the fourth ring.
“Hi,” she said.
There was noise behind her. A car door. Bella talking somewhere nearby, fast and loud enough that whatever she was saying had to be important.
“Is now okay?” I asked.
“Yes,” Leah said. “We just got home.”
“I told Bella I’d call after school.”
“I know. She remembers.”
Of course she did.
“Can I talk to her?” I asked.
“Hold on.”
The phone shifted.
Then Bella came on.
“Daddy?”
“Hi, kiddo.”
“You remembered after school.”
“I did.”
“Good. Mommy said after school, and I said maybe, because grown-ups say times and then sometimes they forget the times.”
“That’s fair.”
“It is,” Bella said.
“I’m sorry I missed dinner this week.”
Bella went quiet.
Not long.
Long e
