For Seven Years I Sent Forty Thousand Dollars Every January, Until Emma Finally Spoke

I rubbed my thumb against my wedding ring.

“Did someone tell you to say this to me?” I asked.

“No,” Emma said.

She took a slow, careful bite of her ice cream.

She looked completely serious.

“Does your dad know we talk about him?” I asked.

“He thinks I am too little to understand where the car goes,” she said.

I looked toward the street.