“Daddy said they’re so you won’t be alone when he has to go away.”
My entire body went still.
“What did Daddy tell you?”
Alex looked down at his hands.
“He said every fork is a promise.”
“A promise of what?”
“That he’ll come back.”
My breath caught.
“He said if he ever couldn’t come home for a long time, we should look at the forks and remember he was still trying to come back.”
Alex’s lower lip trembled.
“He said you needed some too. But I forgot to give them to you.”
I pulled my son against my chest.
I held him so tightly that he squeaked, but he wrapped his arms around my neck and held on.
Whatever Brandon was hiding, it was not the betrayal Marion imagined.
It was something else.
Something rooted not in another woman, but in fear.
I picked up my phone and sent one final message.
Come home Sunday. We will talk.
