Immediately, I got a response.
From: Jameson Knight
To: Mia Darling
Mia,
Thanks for the update. The curriculum works. Frannygoes with me places and to her grandmother’s on weekends. It is safest indoors.
Jameson
Under normal circumstances, I would have left it alone. Yet, Franny was always staring out her binoculars at the trees and sighing half the time. I recognized longing on a child’s face even if Jameson was choosing to ignore it.
Protecting ourselves didn’t always mean avoiding all the risks.
From: Mia Darling
To: Jameson Knight
Mr. Knight,
I really would like you to reconsider, as she has spent most hours inside with me this week. She’s antsy and restless. I realize you might be protecting her from a world I don’t understand, but that doesn’t always mean avoiding all the risks.
I’d like our schedule to include two outdoor activities, rain or shine. I’m sure Archer would be fine walking with us and being outside for an hour each day. I’ll tell him you approve?
Thanks,
Mia
From: Jameson Knight
To: Mia Darling
Mia,
You will not. I do not approve. That’s my decision.
Jameson
What an ass. Didn’t he care? Didn’t he want to discuss it at all?
From: Mia Darling
To: Jameson Knight
She needs outdoor stimuli and novel experiences.
She wants adventure and discovery. I really hope you reconsider.
He didn’t. He freaking ignored me even though his little icon showed he and his stuffy suit avatar picture were active online.
I went to bed furious that night and acted out the next day after Archer roused me from yet another nightmare.
“Franny, we deserve an outing for a bit today, huh?” I whispered to her while she stared out the study window. “Want to go for a walk or maybe to the Paradise Grove club?”
She dropped the binoculars and practically vibrated in the plush chaise. “Heart-in-pinkie you’re not fooling me?”
I held up my pinkie and linked it with hers. “Nope. I even made a picnic.”
