“Because of one lunch ticket?” I asked.
He looked at me.
“Because of you,” he said.
For the first time that whole afternoon, the room didn’t feel so cold.
Chapter Three: The Folder
Then Malcolm looked over at the two empty chairs against the wall.
“Where are your children, Adrienne?”
The warmth disappeared.
“They left,” I said.
His eyes narrowed slightly behind his glasses. “Why?”
I swallowed. It felt like swallowing a stone.
“The parking was too expensive.”
He didn’t say anything for a long time. Maybe ten seconds. I watched his jaw move.
Then he reached out and took my hand. The one that wasn’t holding the lunch ticket. He held it very gently, the way you’d hold a bird.
“I’ve been looking for you for years, Adrienne,” he said.
Something in his voice had changed. It wasn’t sentimental anymore. It was serious. Careful. The voice of a doctor about to give you test results.
