The Promise He Kept From Me

But she held herself straight, and her handshake was firm.

“Come in,” she said.

“He’s in the living room.

I told him a friend of his daddy’s was coming to visit.”

The living room was warm and a little cluttered in the way that children’s spaces always are — a basket of toy cars, a stack of picture books, a drawing taped to the wall that appeared to be either a dog or a very enthusiastic cloud.

Daniel was sitting on the rug with a set of wooden blocks, building something with great concentration.

He looked up when I walked in.

Mark’s eyes.

Mark’s exact eyes — the particular shade of grey-green, the slight downward tilt at the outer corners.

It hit me somewhere behind the sternum.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” I said.

“I’m Sarah.”

“I’m Daniel.” He held up the structure he’d been building.

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