I looked at the little container.
“She saved her lunch.”
Stephanie’s eyes filled.
“I know.”
That evening, she told Joel.
He called immediately.
“Mom, Stephanie says Zoe gave you food.”
“She did.”
“She’s seven. She doesn’t understand.”
“She understood that I left hungry.”
“Mom, you’re making me sound terrible.”
“I haven’t told anyone anything about you, Joel. Your daughter saw it herself.”
He said nothing.
Then he asked why I’d been discussing their family with Stephanie.
That was when something inside me finally settled.
“Joel, I want you to come here tomorrow. Alone.”
“Why?”
“Because we need to talk.”
He arrived after work.
No children.
No instructions.
No list of jobs.
I made tea.
He barely touched his.
“I love you, Mom. You know that.”
“I do.”
“Then why are you acting like I don’t?”
“Because loving somebody and considering them aren’t always the same thing.”
