That afternoon, Derek came home carrying an overnight bag.
“Client emergency,” he explained.
“On a Friday?”
“Unfortunately. I’ll probably be back tomorrow.”
He kissed my cheek, picked up his keys, and left.
I watched his car disappear down the street. Something about the explanation felt incomplete, but I had no reason to suspect what was really happening.
Inside, Lucas was working on his math homework.
“Got any plans tonight?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Not really.”
I placed the tickets beside his notebook.
He stared at them.
“Are these real?”
“Very real.”
“For tonight?”
“Unless you’d rather stay home.”
He jumped up so quickly that his chair scraped across the floor.
“Mom!”
He hugged me, nearly knocking my glasses sideways. For the first time in weeks, he was excited without immediately checking whether someone might laugh at him.Twenty minutes later, he came downstairs carrying a piece of cardboard and a box of markers.
