“I hear you,” I said.
That was all I gave her.
Diane nodded once.
She looked at Nathan.
“I’ll be outside,” she said quietly.
She walked away.
Nathan watched her go.
“Are you okay?” he said.
“I don’t know yet.”
Claire appeared from the direction of the water fountain.
She had a paper cup in each hand.
She held one out to me.
“You look like you could use this,” she said.
I took it.
Cold water.
I hadn’t realized how dry my throat was.
“Thank you,” I said.
“For bringing the letter.
For coming today.”
“I almost didn’t.” She sat down across from us, elbows on her knees.
“When I found it, I didn’t know what to do with it.
It wasn’t my family yet.
I didn’t know if I had the right.”
“You did the right thing.”
“I hope so.” She looked at Nathan.
“I know the timing was terrible.”
“The timing was the only part that was terrible,” he said.
“Everything else — you did exactly right.”
She smiled at that.
A small, careful smile.
The smile of someone still learning what it meant to belong somewhere.
I watched her and Nathan — the way they sat, the way they spoke to each other.
