PART 17: The Night Before I Left

On the last evening of my assignment, Mom asked me to accompany her to the overlook above the Chattahoochee River.

We carried paper cups of hot chocolate and stood under a sky washed pale by the city lights.

“I haven’t asked about your job,” she said.

“There isn’t much I can tell you about this assignment.”

“I know.

I wasn’t going to ask that.” She looked at me.

“I wanted to ask whether you were happy.”