I thought about the woman in the profile photo.
Laughing at something off-camera.
Looking kind.
“The bear,” I said.
“Did she leave it at the school?”
“It was in Toby’s cubby this morning.
He doesn’t know.”
I nodded.
Ryan stood up.
He picked up the folder.
He stood there for a moment with it under his arm, the same way he had arrived, and I had the sudden strange sense that I was looking at someone I had known for a very long time and was only now seeing clearly.
“I don’t want to lose you,” he said.
“I know,” I said.
I walked him to the door.
He stepped out onto the porch.
Turned back once.
I closed the door.
I stood in the hallway with the folded page of account numbers in my hand and listened to his car start and pull away.
Then I took out my phone and called Dana.
“How’s Toby?” I asked when she picked up.
“Destroying me at Go Fish,” she said.
“Lauren, are you okay?”
“No,” I said.
“But I think I’m starting to understand what I’m actually dealing with.”
“Do you want me to bring him home?”
“Not yet,” I said.
