He Missed the Race, the Ribbon, the Science Olympiad, and Every Birthday, Then Tried to Buy It All Back With a Laptop Left on the Porch — My Son Carried It Back Outside Still Sealed and Said an Expensive Gift Doesn’t Return a Childhood

Chapter 10 — The Coffee Shop

The next afternoon Evelyn asked to meet me, and I went, because I wanted to see her face when she tried it.

She came polished and soft-voiced, and folded her hands on the little café table, and told me, gently, that I should not throw away a marriage over baseless jealousy.

“Marcus has only ever been a father figure to Dylan,” she said.

“Nothing more.” And then she laid down what she plainly believed was the winning card.