She asked what he had seen specifically.
He climbed down from the counter and told her to come with him. That he would show her.
Children say unexpected things constantly. The non-sequiturs and the misunderstood observations and the genuinely confusing statements that make perfect sense inside a four-year-old’s mind and land like a riddle everywhere else.
Marla followed him outside half-expecting to find a perfectly innocent explanation waiting for her.
Will walked directly to where Ellie was standing and pointed at her.
“Mom,” he announced, with the clarity of someone who has been trying to communicate something important and is relieved to finally be understood, “Dad’s there.”
Ellie glanced over and laughed lightly.
Marla produced a smile and called him silly.
But Will did not laugh. He kept his arm extended, his expression shifting from cheerful to frustrated. He was not pointing at Ellie’s face. He was pointing lower.
At her midsection.
Ellie leaned forward to pick up her drink, and the movement caused her top to shift just slightly.
Marla saw the edge of something dark against Ellie’s skin.
A tattoo. Fine lines. The suggestion of a face.
The smile stayed on Marla’s face through what felt like pure muscle memory while everything behind it went very quiet and very cold.
The Moment in the Kitchen
Marla got Ellie inside using the most ordinary excuse she could manufacture on short notice.
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