I treated it as the most important appointment on my calendar.

PART 18

I wasn’t late.

I wasn’t late the next week either, or the week after.

I learned which pharmacy carried Hazel’s supplies, which street flooded after heavy rain, and which of the boys liked to pull the other’s sock off while I was buckling the car seats.

Mason laughed loudly at everything.

Bryce smiled slowly, as if he preferred to examine a joke before approving it.

Hazel watched them both with an expression that suggested she was planning how to keep up.