“Where are you? Where is Sophie? Who is she with?”
My ex-wife’s voice came through the phone so fast and so sharp that I stopped walking.
I was standing at the edge of my parents’ garden in Maplewood Heights. Lanterns hung from the branches of the old oak trees. Soft jazz played from speakers hidden in the hedges. The smell of grilled steak drifted across the lawn and mixed with the roses my mother had been growing for forty years.
It was my father’s seventy-second birthday. Half of Charlotte had come.
“Laura, what’s going on?”
“Just answer me, David. Where is Sophie right now?”
I looked out across the lawn.
My daughter was sitting in the grass with a soccer ball in her lap, giggling at something my younger brother was telling her. Matthew had his hands up in the air like he was describing a monster. Sophie’s head was thrown back. She was laughing so hard her ponytail shook.
“She’s in the yard,” I said. “Playing with Matthew. Why?”
There was silence on the other end.
Three seconds. Maybe four. It felt like a lot longer.
I could hear Laura breathing. Fast and shallow. In nine years of marriage and three years of divorce, I had never once heard her breathe like that.
Then her voice came back hard and quick.
“Get her out of there. Right now, David. Right now.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“What? Laura, what are you talking about?”
“Don’t ask me questions. Just take Sophie home. It involves Matthew.”
Matthew.
My little brother. The one the whole family adored. The literature teacher every parent at his school asked for by name.
“Involves him how? Laura, you have to explain this.”
“Trust me. I’ll explain everything when she’s home. But get her out of there. Now.”
And she hung up.
My name is David Bennett. I’m thirty-eight years old. I’m a neurosurgeon. I’ve stood over open skulls for eleven hours at a time with a patient’s life in my hands and never once felt my knees go weak.
They went weak then. Standing on my father’s lawn in a suit, with a glass of champagne going warm in my other hand.
I set the glass down on a table. I put the phone in my pocket.
And I walked across the grass toward my daughter.
Ethan Blake is a skilled Creative Content Specialist with a talent for crafting engaging and thought-provoking narratives. With a strong background in storytelling and digital content creation, Ethan brings a unique perspective to his role at TheArchivists, where he curates and produces captivating content for a global audience.
Ethan holds a degree in Communications from Zurich University, where he developed his expertise in storytelling, media strategy, and audience engagement. Known for his ability to blend creativity with analytical precision, he excels at creating content that not only entertains but also connects deeply with readers.
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