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She looked down. “I miss her.”
“I do too.”
“Beatrice doesn’t understand. She thinks we’re on vacation.”
I scrubbed a hand across my face. Their therapist had tried to reason with them. Obviously, it hadn’t gone well for one of them.
When I finally stopped, Agnes was staring at me.
“Do you see anything on the TV?”
At first, I didn’t know what she meant. Then I realized this was her way of asking what’s on my mind.
“I’m lost, Agnes.”
“Use a GPS.”
“Not that kind of lost. I want to help Beatrice understand, but I don’t know how.”
Agnes looked down at her legs. “One time, I fell and my knee bled.”
“I remember. Your mom patched you up.”
“I kept asking when it would feel better. She said it took time.” She looked at me. “Beatrice needs time too.”
“You’re right,” I said. “How is a five-year-old smarter than I am?”
“It’s not hard.” She shrugged and looked back at the TV.
I huffed out a laugh. “I guess it’s not.”
“Are you really my dad?” Agnes asked.
“I am.”
“Then where were you?”
I paused, unsure of how to explain it. I didn’t want to hide anything from them, but Agnes was too young to understand some things. “Your mom wanted to do it all, and I was happy to let her. Technically, I wasn’t supposed to be your dad, but then I found out you were alone.”
Agnes nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay? Do you have any other feelings on that?”
She shrugged but shuffled closer to me. This was the closest she’d ever willingly gotten to me—save for the night before when she was scared.
I half expected her to return to her usual chaos any second now.
Instead, she stayed next to me. It reminded me of the rare times she would do this with Alice too.
I never thought I would get lucky enough for her to see me in the same light.
Maybe I was wrong.
23
JADE
Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch
