He forced his voice to remain calm.
“Why are you holding Otis’s bowl?”
Ellie’s eyes filled again.
“She said I had to.”
Grant’s gaze dropped.
The inside was clean.
No dog food.
No scraps.
Only a faint smear of something orange near the bottom.
Macaroni and cheese.
Ellie’s favorite lunch.
His stomach turned.
“Did she put your food in there?”
Ellie nodded.
Grant closed his eyes.
Only for a second.
When he opened them, he was careful not to let her see all of the anger that had arrived.
“Did you eat it?”
“No.”
The answer came quickly.
“She said I had to.”
“But you didn’t?”
Ellie shook her head.
“I waited.”
“For what?”
“For her to come back.”
Grant stared.
“Why?”
Ellie looked at the bowl.
“She wanted a picture.”
He stopped breathing.
“What picture?”
“She said she needed to show the doctor.”
Grant heard the words but could not assemble them.
“What doctor?”
“The lady for the school.”
His heartbeat changed.
“What school?”
Ellie frowned as though he should already know.
“The one I’m going to.”
Grant slowly stood.
His daughter grabbed his trouser leg immediately.
He looked down.
“I’m right here.”
“You’re not leaving?”
“No.”
He crouched again.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
She released his leg.
Grant sat on the kitchen floor.
His five-thousand-dollar suit no longer mattered.
Neither did the gala.
Neither did the thirty-two unread emails waiting on his phone or the board call scheduled in an hour.
He pulled Ellie onto his lap.
“Tell me about the school.”
She rested one cheek against his chest.
“Marissa said it has horses.”
Grant said nothing.
“She said I can sleep there.”
Nothing.
“And they have teachers all the time.”
His mouth went dry.
“Did she say when you’re going?”
“After summer.”
It was March.
Grant felt cold.
“Did she say I know about it?”
Ellie nodded.
“She said it was your idea.”
Grant’s hand stopped moving against her back.
“That’s not true.”
Ellie lifted her head.
“What?”
“I never asked for you to go to another school.”
“But she said—”
“I know.”
Grant’s voice broke.
“I know what she said.”
Ellie stared.
“You don’t want me to go?”
“No.”
The word came so quickly that she flinched.
Grant softened.
“No, baby.”
He touched her hair.
“I do not want to send you away.”
Her entire face changed.
Not relief immediately.
Disbelief first.
That hurt worse.
“But she said you need a normal life.”
Grant felt something inside him crack.
“What does that mean?”
Ellie shrugged.
“She said grown-ups get married because they want their own family.”
Grant could barely speak.
“You are my family.”