I didn’t offer comfort.

She hadn’t come for that.

Before leaving, she said, “June deserves adults who don’t turn her into a symbol of who won.”

I looked at her for a long moment.

“On that,” I said, “we agree.”

We never became friends.

We did, however, learn to speak like adults who understood that the child between the stories did not belong to our old rivalry.

PART 16: Paperwork and Promises