Mitchell looked toward Chloe.
“I signed a piece of paper. She did the rest.”
Later that evening, Gavin and Chloe drove home together.
Their home was small—a rented two-bedroom house with white shutters and a porch that needed painting.
To Gavin, it felt like a palace.
They made grilled-cheese sandwiches for dinner because Chloe insisted that was what normal families ate on important days.
Afterward, they sat on the porch while the Texas sky turned gold.
“Dad?” Chloe asked.
“Yes?”
“Were you scared that day?”
Gavin considered pretending he had been brave.
But he still believed in telling her the truth.
“I was more scared than I had ever been.”
“Even after I told you about the bird?”
“Even then.”
She rested her head against his arm.
