Elena watched us with a cautious smile, her arms folded against the breeze.

We were not pretending I was already a father.

We were letting a child spend an ordinary hour with an adult her mother had permitted into her world.

When Willa wandered toward Rose to show her a caterpillar, Elena said quietly, “She talked about you all week.”

“I’m glad she wasn’t frightened.”

“She wasn’t.

I was.”

“I know.”