PART 2: A Stranger Let Me Sleep on His Shoulder—Then My Ex-Husband Found Me Before the Plane Even Landed -035

You were grieving every good thing that had once been true at the same time.

“Do you miss Daddy?” I asked.

Lily nodded.

“Do you?”

The question nearly broke me.

“I miss some things.”

She accepted that.

Children sometimes understood complexity better than adults.

She returned to coloring.

Marisol touched my shoulder.

“You don’t have to figure out your marriage today.”

“I know.”

“Just today.”

I looked at her.

“When did you become the sensible cousin?”

“I have three children.”

“Right.”

“And a mortgage.”

“Right.”

She smiled.

I leaned into her shoulder.

For the first time since leaving Dallas, I let someone hold part of the weight.

At 3:18 that afternoon, Adrian called.

I almost ignored it.

Then answered.

“Did you find Claire?”

“No.”

His voice sounded exhausted.