He wasn’t on a business trip. That much I knew.
Everything else, I needed to hear from him.
I stared at the screen for a full minute.
Me:‘Sleep well❤️’
I called my mother, Denise.
“You need me to come with you?”
“Mom. Can Leo stay with you tonight?”
“Of course. Everything all right?”
“I don’t know yet. I’ll tell you when I do.”
She didn’t push.
She never did.
“I need to do this by myself.”
***
I picked Leo up from school and drove him straight out to the ranch with his overnight bag and his little dinosaur pillow.
He hugged my neck and asked if we could bring the stroller.
“It stays home, buddy. It’ll be waiting when you get back.”
Mom walked me to my car. “You need me to come with you?”
I’d taken it as a compliment then.
“No. I need to do this by myself.”
