She did not answer at first.
Her eyes were on me.
Not smug now.
Not pretty in the victorious way she had been all afternoon.
Frightened.
She did not answer at first.
Then she asked, “Do I apologize this much too?”
Ryan’s face went pale.
“Lucille.”
She waited.
He said nothing.
The silence answered for him.
Lucille looked at Ryan as if the future had briefly opened its mouth.
“Do I apologize this much too?”
Then she grabbed her purse from a lounge chair and walked across the patio.
At the gate, she started running.
Ryan took two steps after her.
“Lucille, come back.”
“NO!”
Everyone was watching.
At the gate, she started running.
Daniel pulled the chair out again.
This time, I sat.
My blue sundress wrinkled beneath me.
I let it.
Elaine raised the camera with trembling hands.
Just before the flash, my youngest climbed into my lap and wrapped both arms around my neck.
This time, I sat.
The chair was almost too small for us.
For once, I did not move.
For once, I did not apologize.
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