I wanted to scream—no, don’t leave me alone with her. But I didn’t. Instead, I nodded grimly and sank onto the couch to wait. The cushions sighed under my weight, the apartment too quiet. I never knew silence could be so loud.
A minute later, a text came in from Lila.
Lila
You okay? How did it go?
Vance
Worse than I even imagined. She won’t talk to me. She’s in the bedroom now with the door shut.
Lila
Mia and I have a little gift for her. Could we drop by and say hello after I’m done with work?
Vance
That’s sweet, but I don’t know. Meeting more people she doesn’t know might make it worse.
Lila
Your call, of course. But let me know if you need anything. At all.
I sat for a few minutes. Then, from the bedroom—barely audible—a soft, muffled sound. A sniff. She was crying. My heart twisted so sharply it felt physical. I cursed under my breath. What was I supposed to do now? Other than start crying myself?
I stared at the phone in my hand, thumb hovering over Lila’s name. I needed someone who knew what to say, someone who could bridge the gap between a terrified child and a father she didn’t remember. Lila and Mia. Somehow, intuitively, I knew they could make headway with her.
I typed before I could second-guess myself.
Vance
On second thought, would you come by?
Lila
We’ll be there by 6:30. I’ll bring dinner.
Relief hit me so fast it almost embarrassed me. I’d never needed anyone the way I needed her right then.
At six-thirty on the dot, there was a knock at the door. My mother had left hours ago. She was hosting her book club but promised to come again in the morning. Which meant I’d spent the last few hours in a state of low-grade panic. Margot hadn’t come out of her room. Not once. I’d knocked twice—once to ask if she was hungry and a second time to see if she wanted to watch television. Both times she’d said she was fine through the door.
I opened the door to find Lila and Mia, arms full of takeout bags and a wrapped package.
“Hi,” Lila said softly, her eyes searching my face. “How are you holding up?”
“Not great,” I admitted, stepping back to let them in.
Mia clutched a package wrapped in lavender paper with a white ribbon. “We brought her something. I picked it out.” She gave me a one-armed hug, and “Hi.”
“Hi back.” I held her tight for just a moment.
Lila set the takeout bags on the counter. “We picked up Thai food. I figured something easy. Nothing too overwhelming.”
Her phone buzzed and she glanced at the screen, her expression tightening.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Just another vendor issue with the renovation. That’s the third one this week.” She put her phone away with a frustrated sigh. “First the wrong cabinet hardware showed up, then paint samples that were never ordered, now the tile supplier says someone cancelled the zellige order.”
