She answered on the fourth ring, her voice low and guarded.

“I bought something for them,” I admitted.

“Return it,” she said.

“They don’t know who you are yet.

They think you’re the man from the restaurant who made Mom cry.”

I looked down at the bag.

I had spent more on the planes than Lauren probably spent on groceries in a month, and I had convinced myself that made them an appropriate first gesture.

“I can send you money for whatever they need.”