Chapter 3
“I brought dessert.”
Mark opened the box. Blue-and-white frosting clung to what remained of a sheet cake. Ethan’s team logo filled the center, with half a congratulatory message still visible beneath it.
Mark looked around the dining room, only then noticing that everyone had gone.
“The party ended already?”
“It’s almost eleven.”
His attention shifted to Sophie’s unopened gift. “Did she like the necklace?”
“She didn’t open it.”
Footsteps sounded on the stairs.
Sophie had changed out of her navy dress and into a sweatshirt and leggings. She walked past Mark, opened the refrigerator, and poured herself a glass of water.
“There’s the birthday girl.” He pushed the cake toward her. “They ordered too much. I saved you some. Chocolate was always your favorite.”
Sophie looked at the cake. “I don’t like chocolate cake.”
“You did when you were little.”
“I haven’t eaten it since I was eight.”
“That’s because your mom always buys strawberry.” Mark glanced at me, waiting for help. “Right, Claire?”
Normally, I would have stepped in. I would have reminded Sophie that tastes changed and told her that her father had at least remembered something.
This time, I stayed quiet.
Mark waited, then turned back to Sophie.
“The necklace is from both of us. You could at least open it.”
“What does it look like?”
“You know. A necklace.”
“What shape is the pendant?”
His eyes moved to the silver box.
I had chosen a small compass.
When Sophie left for her first overnight camp at eleven, she had written me a note saying she would eventually figure out where she wanted to go. She had probably forgotten.
I hadn’t.
“Your mother handled the details,” Mark said. “It’s still from both of us.”
Sophie set down her glass. “What college did I apply to?”
“Ohio State?”
“No.”
“Cincinnati?”
“No.”
He looked at me. I gave him nothing.
“What am I planning to study?” she asked.
“Art.”
“What kind?”
“Painting? Design?” Irritation crept into his voice. “Do you really need to interrogate me on your birthday?”
“What position does Ethan play?”
“Shortstop,” Mark answered immediately. “He adjusted his swing this year, his left shoulder finally healed, and scouts from two colleges came specifically to watch him tonight.”
He stopped.
Sophie gave a small nod. “So you can remember.”
“I helped train him. Of course I remember. You’ve always had both parents. Ethan lost his father when he was twelve.”
“He was five when Uncle David died.”
Mark blinked.
“See?” Sophie said. “You even got that wrong.”
“That’s enough.” Mark’s voice rose. “I missed one birthday. You don’t get to erase everything I’ve done for this family.”
“One?”
Sophie looked at his empty chair.
“You’ve missed twelve.”
“There was a reason every year.”
“And I only had one birthday every year.”
She picked up her water and turned toward the stairs.
Mark reached out as if to stop her. “Sophie, I’m your father. You owe me a chance to explain.”
She paused.
“Ethan lost one father twelve years ago.” Her voice broke for the first time that night. “I lost mine one birthday at a time.”
She went upstairs without waiting for an answer.
When her bedroom door closed, Mark turned on me.
“You’re letting her speak to me like that?”
“She asked clear questions.”
“She was trying to humiliate me. Why didn’t you turn off that livestream?”
“Because she had the right to see where you were.”
His face tightened. “So now you’re taking her side and making me the villain?”
“I didn’t make you anything.” I picked up the unsigned birthday card and placed it in front of him. “Apologize to her. Don’t explain how much Rachel has suffered. Don’t talk about your promise to David. Just apologize to your daughter.”
He didn’t touch the card.
“Arrange a family breakfast tomorrow,” he said. “We need to settle this before Sophie gets even more emotional.”
“What do you want me to make?”
“Whatever she likes. Pancakes. Eggs.” Mark closed the cake box. “I’ll invite Rachel and Ethan. Sophie needs to hear their side too.”
The table from my daughter’s eighteenth birthday hadn’t even been cleared, and Mark was already planning another meal where she would be expected to understand why two other people needed her father more.