Eighteen Years After Ray Abandoned Him on a Dirt Road, Thomas Found His Mother’s Letter

Diane said, “Know what I keep thinking about?”

“What’s that?”

“That first night you came back.

You stood in my kitchen checking your watch every thirty seconds.”

I glanced at my wrist.

The watch was on the kitchen counter where I’d left it.

“I don’t need it at the moment,” I said.

“No,” she said.