People got busy. People got sick. It did not mean anything. But then the second Saturday came. I have to drive to Vancouver to help my aunt with something.
Savannah texted. Sorry to miss coffee. Derek stared at his phone, a cold feeling settling in his stomach. Everything okay? He typed back.
Yeah, just family stuff. Talk soon. But soon kept getting pushed further away. Derek would suggest dinner and Savannah would be busy. He would ask about meeting up and she would have a conflict.
Every invitation met with a polite refusal. He tried calling but she let it go to voicemail. Hey, it is me, he said to the recording. I just wanted to check in, make sure you were okay. Lily has been asking about you.
I have been. I miss you, Savannah. Please call me back. Her response came hours later via text. I just think I have been imposing too much on your time with Lily.
You two need your space, especially with everything changing. Derek read the message three times, completely baffled. Imposing. She was part of their family now. How could she think she was imposing?
He typed back. You are not imposing. You are never imposing. We love having you around. Please talk to me.
No response. The second Saturday without Savannah felt wrong in ways Derek could not articulate. He and Lily sat at their usual table at the corner bean, but the empty chair across from them seemed to pulse with absence. Lily kept looking toward the door, hope flickering in her eyes every time it opened. "Where is Miss Savannah? " she asked for the third time.
Why does she not come anymore? She is just busy, sweetie. But she was never too busy before. Lily's voice was small and wounded. Did we do something to make her mad?
No, honey. Of course not. But Derek was not sure anymore. He thought back over the past weeks, trying to identify the moment things had shifted. What had he said?
What had he done? The answer hit him like a punch to the stomach. Chelsea's phone call. Savannah's withdrawal had started right after he had mentioned Chelsea moving back. Right after he had been distracted and distant and unable to explain why.
And Lily. Lily had been so excited about her parents potentially reuniting. She had probably told Savannah all about it in that unfiltered way children share everything without considering consequences. The third Saturday without Savannah. Lily's face at the corner bean broke Derek's heart.
"Our table feels sad without her," she said quietly, tracing patterns in the condensations on her hot chocolate. "I know, sweetheart. I feel it, too. Can you make her come back? " Daddy, can you tell her we miss her? I am trying, baby.
I am really trying. That night, after Derek put Lily to bed, he sat alone on his couch and let himself feel the full weight of what was happening. He was losing her, losing Savannah, and he did not even understand why. The realization hit Derek like a freight train at 11:47 p. M.
On a Tuesday night. He was lying in bed, unable to sleep, going over everything in his mind for the hundth time. The timeline of events, the subtle shifts in Savannah's behavior, the way she had pulled away so suddenly, so completely. Savannah's withdrawal had started immediately after Chelsea's phone call, after Lily had found out her mother was moving back, after Lily had started talking about her parents getting back together. Derek sat up in bed, his heart pounding.
Lily must have told Savannah. Of course she had. Lily was 7 years old. She had no filter, no sense of what should and should not be shared. She would have told Savannah everything with all the innocent enthusiasm of a child who did not understand the implications.
And Savannah, sweet, selfless, traumatized. Savannah would have heard that this little girl she loved was praying every night for her parents to reunite. Savannah, who had lost her entire family in one terrible night. Savannah who understood better than anyone what it meant to want your family back. She would have stepped aside.
She would have sacrificed her own happiness because she thought it was the right thing to do for Lily. Because she thought she was standing in the way of a child getting what Savannah herself could never have again, an intact family. She was removing herself from the equation, giving Derek space to reconcile with his ex-wife, letting Lily have the fairy tale ending, even if it destroyed Savannah in the process. "Oh, God! " Derek whispered into the darkness. He grabbed his phone and checked the time.
"Almost midnight. Too late to call, but this could not wait until morning. It could not wait another second. He called his neighbor, Mrs. Patterson, the elderly woman who had watched Lily countless times over the past 3 years.
She answered on the fourth ring, sleepy, but immediately concerned. Derek, is everything all right? I am so sorry to call this late. I need a huge favor. Can you come sit with Lily for an hour?
It is an emergency. Of course, dear. Give me 5 minutes. True to her word, Mrs. Patterson appeared at his door in her house coat 4 minutes later.
Derek thanked her profusely, grabbed his keys, and ran for his car. 20 minutes later, he was knocking on Savannah's apartment door. The knock was loud in the quiet hallway, insistent. For a moment, there was no response. Derek heard movement inside the creek of floorboards, the soft thump of crutches on carpet.
Then the door opened. Savannah stood there in pajamas, her blonde hair loose around her shoulders, her face puffy from what looked like crying. Surprise flickered across her features, followed quickly by something that looked like panic. Derek. Her voice was rough.
What are you doing here? Is Lily okay? Lily is fine. She is with Mrs. Patterson.
He held her gaze, his heart pounding so hard he could hear it. We need to talk, please. Savannah hesitated. Derek could see the war playing out behind her eyes, the instinct to protect herself, to maintain the distance she had carefully constructed, battling against the part of her that wanted to let him in. Finally, she stepped aside.
Her studio apartment was small but warm, lit only by a single lamp. Photos of her family covered every surface her parents on their wedding day. Kennedy blowing out birthday candles, all four of them, at the corner bean, in happier times. They sat on her secondhand couch, the same one where they had watched movies and argued about plot holes, and laughed until their sides hurt. But now the space between them felt like a canyon.
You are pulling away because of Chelsea, are you not? Derek's voice was quiet but certain, not accusatory. Just stating a fact. Savannah's eyes immediately filled with tears. Lily told you, he continued.