Whole.
Later, after everyone had gone home, after Evelyn had been bathed and the frosting scrubbed out of her curls, I sat on the back porch steps with a cup of tea. The yard was full of crumpled napkins and paper plates. A lone balloon was bobbing against the fence.
Ben came out and sat beside me. Not too close. He still never sat too close unless I moved first.
“Good day,” he said.
“Good day,” I agreed.
We watched the balloon for a while.“Can I tell you something?” he said.
“You can always tell me something. That’s the deal now.”
“I know.” He smiled a little. “That’s actually what it’s about.”
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He handed it to me.
It was a letter from Dr. Hale’s office. Ben’s latest test results. He’d gone back every few months that whole year, he told me. Not because he was hoping for anything. Just because he’d promised himself he would never again be afraid to look.
