We can talk for a few minutes.”

“Thank you for calling.”

“Please don’t thank me yet.

I’m not sure I should have.”

Her voice was different from the voice in my memories.

There was more steadiness in it, and weariness beneath that steadiness.

She told me that she and Willa were staying with her sister, Rose, while attending a specialist appointment for Willa’s hearing.

It was a routine follow-up, not an emergency.