“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because they asked whether you were okay.”
He looked surprised.
“They did?”
“Yes.”
That was true.
Two weeks after the tournament, I met Leo and Ethan at a small café in Bellmere.
Claire sat at another table twenty feet away.
Close enough to intervene.
Far enough to let us speak.
I brought nothing.
No watches.
No laptops.
No envelopes of money.
Leo noticed.
“Good.”
“I listen occasionally.”
“Mom says that would be new.”
Ethan laughed.
I deserved it.
We talked for forty minutes.
Mostly they asked questions.
Why did you leave?
Because I was ambitious and selfish.
Did you love Mom?
Yes.
Then why leave?
Because loving someone does not automatically make a person brave enough to do right by them.
Did you believe Vanessa when she said the pregnancy ended?
Yes.
Why didn’t you check?
That question took me longest.
Finally I said:
“Because part of me was relieved.”
Neither boy spoke.
I continued.
“If the pregnancy was over, then I didn’t have to face what I had done.”
Leo stared at me.
“So you wanted us not to exist.”
My chest tightened.
“I wanted the problem to disappear.”
“That means us.”
“Yes.”
Claire looked over from the other table.
I did not look away from Leo.
“Yes.”
His eyes filled.
