(Lena)
Dad came by on a Saturday morning.
He'd been doing that more since the wedding, showing up without much notice, staying for an hour or two, and leaving before he outstayed his welcome. It was a version of him I hadn't seen before, more present and less caught up in the business of being busy. I suspected Ruth had something to do with that, though neither of us had ever said it out loud.
He sat at the island with coffee while I had lemonade. Cole was in the study on a call, and the house was quiet in the way it always was on Saturday mornings when nothing was expected of anyone.
"You look good," he said.
"I look enormous," I said.
"You look good," he said again.
I let him have that.
We talked about Mom, who was recovering well and had started going to a gentle exercise class
