When my son sl:apped me for interrupting his video game, I just lowered my head and walked to the kitchen. I spent three hours baking his favorite triple-chocolate cake

Grant asked.

“Yes.”

“And the girlfriend?”

“With him.”

I carefully placed the cake beneath a glass dome. My hands no longer shook.

From upstairs, Evan shouted, “Mom! Coffee smells amazing!”

Marissa laughed.

Officer Lewis raised one eyebrow.

I poured fresh coffee into two mugs and whispered softly,

“Let him come downstairs smiling.”

Part 3

Evan emerged from his continue reading …