Page 51 of The Love We Found

“Not yet, but soon.”

“You gotta call me before bed again, okay?” she asked. She always checked to make sure I would call, even though I’d never missed saying goodnight.

I swallowed back the guilt I was feeling. It was the distance, the time away, and the moments I feared I might miss—little growing-up moments I couldn’t be there for. “Of course I’ll call.”

“Promise?”

“Promise,” I said, firm.

She relaxed instantly, already shifting the phone as if someone off screen had caught her attention. “Okay. I love you, Daddy.”

“I love you more,” I said. “Be good for Dani.”

She scrunched her nose. “I always am.”

“Night, bug,” I said. “Sweet dreams.”

Just as the call ended, an alert popped up on my screen. It was a message from work, urgent enough to stir the tension back into my shoulders.

Then another alert dinged, this one from Dani.

Dani:For the record,

I negotiated the scoops.

of ice cream down from three.

Me:You’re spoiling her.

Dani:I prefer fostering

her independence.

There it was again, that easy confidence. Like she could lighten a room just by walking in.

Me:Thanks for watchin’ her.

Thegslipped. I noticed it as soon as I hit send. I didn’t usually do that, especially with auto correct. But it seemed that with Dani, myusualno longer existed.