Chapter 20 - THE PICTURE THEY CHOSE
They hung Lily's drawing above the kitchen table. It showed Marcus with a crooked smile, Hazel carrying a pie, and Lily flying a blue kite with a yellow string. In the corner she had drawn a tiny rabbit wearing a crown.
“A very important rabbit,” she explained.
“Obviously,” Marcus said. “He looks like he owns the house.”
“He can. We don't need a big one.”
That summer, they visited the lake where Marcus had taught her to skip stones. Lily insisted on wearing bright red rain boots even though the sky was clear. Marcus brought sandwiches, a blanket, and the little paper kite they had built together years before. Hazel came too, and for once she accepted help carrying the cooler.
Lily ran ahead, then paused. Marcus saw the hesitation before she asked.
“Will you be mad if I drop it?”
“The kite?”
She nodded.
“I might be sad for the kite,” he said. “But I won't be mad at you. Things can break. You still get to be loved.”
The wind lifted the paper wings. Lily laughed, loud and unguarded. Marcus ran beside her until his injured leg forced him to slow down. She stopped immediately.
“Does it hurt?”
“Sometimes.”
“Can I help?”
“You already do.”
Later, they ate beneath a tree. Lily took a second sandwich and waited for permission. Marcus nudged the plate toward her.
“You hungry?”
“Yes.”
“Then eat.”
“Just because?”
“Just because.”
For a long moment she considered that answer. Then she bit into the sandwich and leaned against his shoulder.
At sunset Marcus looked across the lake. He could still remember the night in the ballroom, the terrible portrait, the brush scratching marble, and the way his daughter had looked at him as if hope itself might be punished.
He couldn't change what happened before he came home. He could show up tomorrow, and the day after that, until staying became more believable than leaving.
Lily tugged his sleeve. “Daddy, can we come back next week?”
Marcus kissed the top of her head. “Next week. And as many weeks as we can.”
She smiled and returned to her sandwich.
May you like
The wind carried their blue kite higher. This time, when the string pulled, nobody told Lily to let go.
