Chapter 17 - The Day My Daughter Left
Tessa packed her car in August.
I checked the tires three times.
She caught me on the fourth.
“Dad.”
“Pressure looks low.”
“You checked it ten minutes ago.”
“Temperature changes.”
“It’s seventy-two degrees.”
“Dangerous temperature.”
She hugged me before I could embarrass myself further.
Then she placed something in my hand.
My leather watch.
The same watch I had handed her before stepping onto the grass against Travis.
“I kept it that day because I thought you might not come back.”
I stared at her.
She smiled.
“You always came back.”
I put it on.
“You call me.”
“I will.”
“Every day.”
“No.”
“Twice a day?”
“Dad.”
“Fine.”
She drove away.
I stood in the driveway long after her taillights disappeared.
For sixteen years, my job had been protecting her.
That morning I learned the final part of the job.
May you like
Letting her go.
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