"You can grade there! I'll be quiet. I'll be so quiet you won't even know I'm there."
"It's not about being quiet, sweetheart."
"Okay.” Her voice was a whisper of heavy disappointment. "Did I do something wrong? Is it because I called you Mommy? I can stop. I won't say it again, I promise."
The fissure in my heart widened into a canyon.
"No, baby. You didn't do anything wrong."
"Then why won't you come?"
I stood up, unable to look at her anymore. Cole was watching me with an expression I couldn't bear to analyze.
"I'm canceling tutoring," I said, the words tumbling out flat and rehearsed. "For a while. I'm overwhelmed with work. I texted the other parents already. I should have texted you too, but it slipped my mind."
"It slipped your mind." Cole's voice was carefully neutral. "For two days."
"I've been busy."
"Too busy to answer a single call? To open your door when I was standing on your porch?"
"I need to focus. I should have set better boundaries from the start."
The words tasted like poison. Cole's face shuttered closed, the warmth draining away.
"Boundaries," he repeated.
"Yes."
"Emma, what happened?" He stepped closer, and I stepped back instinctively. Pain flickered across his features. "Something changed. When I dropped you off after school on Tuesday, you were fine. Now you're hiding in your house, not answering calls, standing in your doorway like we're strangers. This isn't about being busy."
"It is."
"It's not." His voice softened, the challenge giving way to something gentler. "Talk to me. Please. Whatever it is, we can?—"
"There's nothing to talk about."
"Emma—"
"I said there's nothing to talk about." My voice came out sharper than intended. Sarah flinched. The guilt was a physical weight, crushing my chest.
"Can we come next Saturday?" Sarah's voice was small, desperate. "Uncle C can help you grade. He’s really good at arranging papers."
"That's very sweet, but I don't think?—"
"I will sit quietly with my coloring book. You won't even know I'm there."
"Sarah—"
"Please, Emma." Her eyes were filling with tears. "Please don't be mad at me."
"I'm not mad at you," I managed, my own voice breaking. "I just... I need some space right now."
"Why?" Her brows were furrowed in confusion.
"I don't know."
"Like, a little space? Or a lot of space?"
