He sounded as excited as though he’d located a missing relative.
“June! It’s him!”
I heard her shouting in the background.
They insisted Lila and I come to dinner the following Saturday.
I tried to decline twice.
Howard ignored me twice.
So that weekend, we pulled up in front of their small brick house.
Lila immediately noticed six ceramic ducks wearing Christmas hats lined across the porch.
“I like these people already,” she whispered.
June opened the door before we’d even knocked.
She hugged Lila first.
Then she hugged me.
Howard shook my hand and wouldn’t let go for several seconds.
“Now we’re even,” I joked.
“Not yet,” he said.
Their house smelled like roast chicken, butter, and cinnamon.
It reminded me of my grandparents’ house when I was a kid.
I was taking off my coat when a woman came out of the kitchen carrying a bowl.
She looked around my age, maybe a little younger, with dark hair pulled into a loose knot and flour on one sleeve.
Howard smiled.
“This is our granddaughter, Tessa.”
I nearly laughed because suddenly the television story made sense.
“The one who taught you to use the phone?”
Tessa groaned.
“I taught them to take pictures of flowers. They turned into investigative journalists.”
June looked pleased with herself.
“If I hadn’t taken that picture, we wouldn’t have found you.”
Tessa smiled at me.
“She’s been saying that all week.”
Dinner was easy in a way I hadn’t expected.
There was no dramatic spark across the table.
No movie moment.
What I noticed instead was how naturally Tessa spoke to Lila.
When Lila announced that carrots tasted “suspicious,” Tessa didn’t tell her to eat them. She quietly moved the bowl away and asked whether mashed potatoes looked more trustworthy.
Later, Lila showed her a drawing she’d made at school.
Tessa studied it seriously.
“Is that a horse?”
“It’s a reindeer.”
“I knew that. I was testing you.”
Lila burst out laughing.
I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed hearing another adult woman laugh with my daughter until that moment.
After dinner, Howard and I carried dishes into the kitchen.
He leaned toward me.
“She’s single.”
I almost dropped a plate.
