#Chapter 91: A Challenge

ELENA The silence Derek left behind was louder than anything he'd said all night. Aiden stirred the melted remains of his ice cream with the tip of his spoon, not looking up. The happy chatter from nearby tables felt like it belonged to a different world—one where parents didn’t rush off to the side of someone else at the drop of a phone call. One where families stayed put, even when things got hard. “He didn’t even say goodbye,” Aiden muttered, eyes fixed on the swirl of vanilla and chocolate as it blurred into beige. I swallowed, trying not to let the bitterness rise. “I think it was an emergency, bud. Sometimes things happen.” “He still could’ve said goodbye.” I didn’t disagree. I just didn’t know how to explain the storm in my chest well enough to make it make sense to a six-year-old. Maybe it didn’t make sense. Maybe it just hurt. Nonna Lucia approached from the back of the restaurant with a fresh basket of breadsticks and a knowing look in her soft eyes. She placed