Chapter 10 - The Night Daniel Was Late
Daniel missed the fourth visit.
Not completely.
That would have been easier to categorize.
He was forty-five minutes late.
Then an hour.
Then ninety minutes.
Emily sat at the small kitchen table with her telescope beside her and pretended to read.
Grace texted at 6:10.
Are you coming?
No response.
At 6:30 she called.
Voicemail.
At 6:45 Emily said, “Maybe traffic.”
Grace looked at the clear sky outside.
“Maybe.”
At seven, she put dinner in the refrigerator.
Emily stopped pretending to read.
“Did he forget?”
Grace hated the question.
“I don’t know.”
At 7:12, Daniel called.
Grace stepped into the hallway before answering.
“Where are you?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Where?”
“Milwaukee.”
Grace closed her eyes.
“You are in another state.”
“A property issue came up this morning. I thought I could finish and drive back.”
“You thought.”
“I should have called.”
“Yes.”
“I kept thinking another thirty minutes.”
Grace leaned against the wall.
Inside, Emily’s chair scraped.
“She has been waiting with the telescope.”
Daniel went quiet.
“I messed up.”
“Yes.”
“Can I talk to her?”
Grace looked at the door.
“No.”
“Grace.”
“She gets to decide when she wants to talk to you after this.”
“I didn’t disappear.”
“You disappeared for ninety minutes from an eight-year-old who is learning whether you disappear.”
Silence.
That reached him.
“I’m driving back tonight.”
“Do not.”
“I can be there by—”
“No. You are tired. It is dark. Do not turn guilt into another bad decision.”
Daniel breathed out.
“What do I do?”
Grace almost answered.
Then stopped.
For years she had solved things for everyone.
Daniel’s fear.
Her mother’s bills.
Emily’s school forms.
Work emergencies.
“What do you think you should do?”
He was quiet for a long time.
“Call her tomorrow when you say she’s ready. Apologize without explaining the work problem. Reschedule if she wants.”
“Yes.”
“And stop promising times I can’t protect.”
Grace looked toward the kitchen.
“Yes.”
She ended the call.
Emily sat exactly where Grace had left her.
“Was he working?”
“Yes.”
Emily’s eyes filled.
“He knew today.”
“Yes.”
“He said he would come.”
“Yes.”
Grace sat beside her.
“Are you mad?”
Emily nodded.
“Do you still want to see him?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s okay.”
Emily looked at the telescope.
“He bought that.”
“Yes.”
“Can I still use it if I’m mad?”
Grace smiled sadly.
“Yes.”
They carried it to the west window.
Clouds covered most of the sky.
They found one bright point between buildings.
Emily adjusted the focus.
Grace’s phone buzzed.
Vincent.
She ignored it.
It buzzed again.
She ignored that too.
A third message appeared.
Emily texted Martha that Daniel didn’t come. I am not coming over. I am asking whether you need anything.
Grace stared.
Progress could be irritating.
She typed:
No. We’re okay.
Vincent replied:
All right.
Nothing else.
The next morning, Daniel called at 8:00 exactly.
Grace asked Emily.
Emily said no.
At ten, Daniel called again.
Grace did not answer.
At noon, he sent one text:
Tell her I’m sorry. No excuse.
Emily read it.
She said, “Good.”
Then went back to coloring.
Daniel waited.
He did not call again that day.
On Sunday, Emily asked to speak to him.
Grace put the phone on speaker only because Emily wanted her there.
Daniel said, “Hi.”
Emily said, “You forgot.”
“I did not forget.”
“That’s worse.”
Daniel closed his mouth.
Grace looked away so Emily would not see approval.
Daniel said, “You’re right.”
“I hate when grown-ups say that.”
“Me too.”
Emily picked at a loose thread on her sleeve.
“Why didn’t you call?”
“I kept thinking I could still make it.”
“That’s dumb.”
“Yes.”
“You say yes a lot.”
“I’m trying not to argue when you’re right.”
Emily thought.
“Okay.”
Daniel continued.
“I’m changing some things at work. I travel too much. I can’t promise I’ll never have a work problem. I can promise I will call before you are sitting at a table waiting.”
Emily was quiet.
“Can we go to the planetarium next Saturday?”
“If Mom says.”
Grace nodded.
Daniel heard the movement somehow.
“If she says.”
After the call, Emily said, “I’m still mad.”
“You can be.”
“Can I be mad and go?”
“Yes.”
That afternoon Vincent came to the diner while Grace and Emily were there.
He sat two booths away.
Not with them.
Grace noticed.
Emily did too.
She walked over after finishing fries.
“Why are you over here?”
Vincent looked up.
“Your mother did not invite me.”
Emily turned to Grace.
Grace lifted one eyebrow.
Emily looked back.
“She says you can visit if she says.”
“Yes.”
“She didn’t say.”
“No.”
Emily considered.
Then returned to Grace’s booth.
Vincent almost smiled.
Later, when Emily went to wash her hands, Grace moved to Vincent’s table.
“Thank you.”
“For sitting?”
“For not showing up last night.”
His face tightened.
“I wanted to.”
“I know.”
“Martha told me.”
“I know.”
“I drove past your block.”
Grace stared.
Vincent looked irritated with himself.
“I did not stop.”
“That is an extremely low bar.”
“I am aware.”
She sat.
He pushed the sugar container back and forth once.
“Mercer missed the visit.”
“Yes.”
“Do you want me to—”
“No.”
He stopped.
“Right.”
Grace watched him.
“You hate this.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Vincent leaned back.
“Because I know men like Daniel.”
“You knew Daniel at twenty-six.”
“I know cowardice.”
“So do I.”
He nodded.
Grace said, “If he fails Emily, she needs to see me handle it. Not you erase him.”
Vincent’s eyes met hers.
That sentence hurt him.
She saw it.
Good.
Not cruel.
Necessary.
“I understand.”
Grace stood.
Vincent said, “Grace.”
She turned.
“If I had known you were pregnant, I would have done things differently.”
Grace stared at him.
“Would you have asked me?”
Vincent took too long.
Then he said, “Back then? Probably not.”
It was the most honest thing he had said.
Grace nodded.
“Then maybe different would not have been better.”
She went back to her daughter.
May you like
Vincent sat alone with his coffee.
He did not touch it until it was cold.
