“You are recused, Captain, as a family member.”
“You will not sign anything.”
“You will not see the file.”
“I wanted you to hear it from me.”
“Good,” said my mother.
“I want it done by the book.”
“I don’t want his job gone because he insulted my daughter.”
“I want it gone because he broke his word, four times, in writing.”
Mr. Kendrick almost smiled.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.
“It will be.”
It was.
Three weeks later, the committee voted unanimously.
Dillon’s contract was terminated, with cause.
He came to Kittiwake Lane on a rainy Tuesday afternoon with Ms. Thackeray standing at my side, and he took one suitcase.
He stood a long time in the nursery doorway, looking at the two small cribs.
He left the key on the kitchen table, and he closed the door softly behind him.
The court accepted the agreement.
It set a support schedule and a visitation plan, supervised at first, with a clause I insisted on.
