Chapter 3
Lucy froze, the eraser still in her hand, and looked toward the front door.
It was almost eleven thirty when Mark came in. He carried a gift bag with a toy store’s logo, the night’s chill still clinging to his coat.
“My birthday girl is still up?” He smiled and lifted the bag. “Look what Daddy brought you.”
Lucy stayed on the rug.
Mark walked over, set the bag in front of her, and crouched down.
“It’s that princess castle you wanted at Target. Tomorrow, Daddy will take you out for breakfast. Then we’ll go to the amusement park. How does that sound?”
Lucy looked at the bag without reaching for it.
“Daddy.”
“Yeah?”
“Didn’t you promise you’d be there?”
Mark’s smile froze.
He reached out to pat her head, but Lucy shifted backward until her shoulder touched my knee.
“Something came up,” Mark said patiently. “Ethan won his game today. He really needed me.”
“I really needed you today, too.”
She said it quietly, but his hand stopped in midair.
I stayed silent.
Lucy looked down at her birthday drawing. She had already erased one of Mark’s feet. White eraser crumbs were scattered across her skirt.
Mark followed her gaze, and his expression darkened.
“Lucy, what are you doing?”
She pulled the drawing closer to me.
“I’m erasing you.”
“Why are you erasing me?”
Lucy thought about it, then answered seriously.
“Because you weren’t there for my birthday.”
Mark looked up at me, his brow furrowing.
“Erin, what did you tell her?”
I lifted Lucy onto my lap and brushed the eraser crumbs off her skirt.
“I only told her that Daddy didn’t keep his promise.”
“You shouldn’t tell a child things like that.”
“She waited at the restaurant until it closed. She didn’t need me to tell her.”
Mark stood up, his breathing growing heavier.
“Lucy, that doesn’t mean Daddy doesn’t love you. Your brother really needed me today.”
Lucy hugged her bunny tighter.
“What if Ethan needs you on my next birthday, too?” she asked softly.
Mark opened his mouth but didn’t answer right away.
She didn’t cry or throw a tantrum. She simply buried her face in her bunny’s ears.
I stood with her in my arms.
“It’s late. Let’s get you to bed.”
Lucy wrapped her arms around my neck. As I carried her past Mark, she murmured, “Good night, Daddy.”
She wasn’t asking for affection or trying to linger.
She was just being polite.
I helped her wash up and changed her out of the blue dress. Once she was in bed, she slipped her birthday drawing under her pillow.
“Mommy, we don’t have to go to the amusement park tomorrow.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to wait until the afternoon and then hear Daddy say Ethan needs him again.”
I pulled the blanket up around her, my heart aching.
“Okay. We’ll do something else together tomorrow.”
Lucy closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.
I shut her bedroom door and returned to the living room.
Mark was still standing by the coffee table. The princess castle sat unopened in its box, the gift bag’s pink ribbon trailing onto the rug.
“Happy now?” He stared at me. “Now she thinks I don’t love her.”
I walked over, picked up the paper birthday crown, and set it in front of him.
“I’m not the one who made her feel that way.”
“Do you have to make such a big deal out of one little thing?”
“She spent her fifth birthday waiting until the restaurant closed. That isn’t a little thing.”
Mark tugged his tie loose in frustration.
“It’s not easy for Sophie to raise Ethan on her own. I promised to celebrate with my son. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“You weren’t wrong to celebrate with Ethan. You were wrong to lie to Lucy, break your promise, and leave me to pick up the pieces.”
His phone vibrated in his pocket.
When he pulled it out, Sophie’s name lit up the screen.
Mark instinctively turned away to answer.
But I could still hear her voice.
“Mark, Ethan is going to want to see you when he wakes up tomorrow. Didn’t you promise to bring us over to your place for lunch?”
I watched his back go rigid.
And suddenly I understood. The day he had promised to make things up to Lucy hadn’t really been set aside for her at all.
Mark hung up and stood silent for a few seconds.
Then he said:
“Sophie and Ethan are coming over for lunch tomorrow.”