“You asked.”
Fair.
Elena continued.
“Claire said you felt responsible for everything.”
“That sounds more accurate.”
“She said if the weather changed during a vacation, you acted personally betrayed.”
“That happened once.”
“She said three times.”
“I object to the credibility of a witness who isn’t available for cross-examination.”
Elena laughed.
Then her expression softened.
“She thought you’d be lost without her.”
I stared at the countertop.
“She was right.”
“But she also thought Sophie would pull you back.”
Upstairs, we heard Sophie shout, “That is not cheating!”
Maya shouted back, “You changed the rules!”
Elena smiled.
“Seems like she had help.”
I looked toward the ceiling.
“Yes.”
Then I showed Elena the sponsor form.
“I won’t sign unless you want me to.”
She read it carefully.
“This doesn’t give you authority over medical decisions?”
“No.”
“Or where Maya lives?”
“No.”
“It’s school continuity only?”
“Yes.”
“And either of us can end it?”
“Yes.”
She turned the page.
“What does Maya want?”
“She’s considering it.”
“Then we wait.”
That sentence was unusually difficult for me.
But I did.
Friday morning, the Horizon committee met.
I was not present.
Neither was Elena.
Maya asked to speak for herself.
She entered the room with Ms. Bennett and her repaired backpack.
For forty minutes, I sat in a coffee shop across the street with Sophie.
I checked my watch twelve times.
“Dad.”
“What?”
“You’re doing the thing.”
“What thing?”
“The control thing.”
“I’m checking the time.”
“You checked it thirty seconds ago.”
“I doubt that.”
She started counting.
At forty-three seconds, my hand moved instinctively toward my watch.
Sophie pointed.
“See?”
I put both hands flat on the table.
“This is intolerable.”
She drank her hot chocolate.
“You need a hobby.”
“I have hobbies.”
“Name one.”
I thought.
“Work.”
“That’s not a hobby.”
“Reading financial reports.”
“That is worse than work.”
“Golf.”
“You hate golf.”
“I own golf clubs.”
“That isn’t the same.”
She had me there.
At 10:17, my phone rang.
Maya.
I answered.
“Well?”
“You’re not supposed to sound more nervous than me.”
“I’m not nervous.”
Sophie leaned toward the phone.
“He’s very nervous!”
“Sophie.”
Maya laughed.
Then silence.
A long silence.
My chest tightened.
“Maya?”
“I got in.”
I stood.
Sophie jumped up.
“You got in?”
People looked at us.
For perhaps the first time in my adult life, I did not care.
