“I’m sorry,” she said immediately, though no one had blamed her for anything. “I know this is awful. I told him not to come again today. I told him he should go home.”
That was all it took.
A girl who apologizes for existing is my weakness.
I stepped closer.
“Have you eaten anything?”
She blinked.
“Um… a cookie this morning.”
I slowly turned toward Daniel.
“One. Cookie.”
“I went to get coffee and—”
“No. Don’t speak. Don’t make it worse.”
I opened the shopping bags like a general preparing emergency supplies.
“Owen, grab that sandwich. Lily, get the water. Daniel, shut up and hold these diapers I bought without knowing why, but apparently they’re part of the plot now.”
For the first time since Saturday, I heard a small laugh.
It was Hannah.
I handed her the sandwich.
“Sit. Eat. Then you can tell me everything. Food first.”
She held the package in both hands like no one had ever given her an order so gentle.
