This quiet was expensive absence.
Riley stood at window.
Thirty-two floors above city.
She could see everything.
She belonged nowhere in view.
Her phone buzzed.
Unknown Aspen number.
Then again.
Then a third time.
She almost ignored.
Something made her answer.
“Hello?”
Daniel’s voice.
Wrong.
Tight.
“Sophie fell.”
Everything inside Riley stopped.
“What?”
“Behind the garage.”
“Ice.”
“She hit her head.”
His breath sounded uneven.
“They're keeping her overnight.”
“Imaging tomorrow.”
“Daniel.”
“She’s stable.”
The word stable did not help enough.
Riley grabbed coat.
“I’m coming.”
A pause.
“You’re in Denver.”
“Yes.”
“Riley, roads—”
“I’m coming.”
She ended call.
Four hours later she entered Aspen Valley Hospital at two in the morning.
Daniel sat outside pediatric room with elbows on knees and hands covering his face.
She had never seen him small before.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
He looked up.
The relief on his face almost broke her.
“She’s stable,” he said immediately.
“No bleeding.”
“Mild concussion.”
“They’re monitoring.”
Riley sat beside.
“Okay.”
Daniel nodded.
“Okay.”
“What do you need?”
“I don’t know.”
“Have you eaten?”
He looked confused.
Riley stood.
“I’ll find—”
His hand caught her wrist.
Gentle.
She stopped.
Daniel looked up.
“I'm sorry.”
“Not now.”
“I need now.”
She sat.
He released wrist slowly.
“I was scared.”
Riley waited.
Daniel continued.
“Not because you have money.”
“Not really.”
“I told myself it was trust.”
“Some of it was.”
“But mostly…”
He looked toward Sophie’s door.
“Something started to matter.”
“And I found a reason to stop it before it could matter more.”
Riley’s eyes burned.
“You were protecting yourself.”
He nodded.
“I've gotten good at that.”
“I know.”
“I’m sorry.”
Riley looked through small window into Sophie’s room.
The child slept with bandage near temple.
Gerald beside her.
Riley whispered:
“Let's not solve us tonight.”
Daniel looked.
“Sophie is okay.”
“We are here.”
“That's enough.”
He exhaled.
A long, shuddering breath.
“Okay.”
Their shoulders touched.
Neither moved.
At four, nurse said Sophie’s vitals were perfect and she had awakened asking for Gerald.
Daniel went inside.
When he returned, his eyes were red.
Riley pretended not to notice.
They sat until dawn.
Somewhere around five, Riley told him everything she had not told before.
The company.
Employees.
Brendan.