Then she reached over and squeezed his arm.
“She would.”
Marcus nodded.
Before he could answer, his daughter came running across the grass.
“Auntie!”
The woman crouched.
The little girl threw her arms around her.
“You came!”
“Of course I came.”
The child pointed toward the gift bag.
“Is that for me?”
The woman laughed.
“Maybe.”
The little girl grinned.
Then began explaining every detail of the party.
The cake.
The treasure hunt.
The princess crowns.
The strawberry lemonade.
And the toy pony Marcus had promised.
The woman listened with exaggerated seriousness.
Then asked whether the birthday girl had assigned everyone their official party duties.
The child nodded.
“Daddy does the food.”
“Of course.”
“Grandma does the drinks.”
“Very important.”
“And you have to help me open presents.”
The woman smiled.
“That's a serious responsibility.”
The girl nodded solemnly.
Then ran back toward her friends.
Marcus watched her go.
For a moment, his face softened.
The woman looked toward him.
“You're doing a good job.”
He shook his head.
“Some days I have no idea what I'm doing.”
She laughed.
“That's called parenting.”
He smiled.
Then glanced toward his daughter.
“She asked about her mom this morning.”
The woman's expression changed.
“What did she say?”
“She wanted to know whether Mom would like the decorations.”
The woman looked toward the balloons.
“What did you tell her?”
Marcus swallowed.
“That she would've asked why there weren't more.”
The woman laughed through sudden tears.
“She absolutely would have.”
Marcus smiled.
For a moment, they shared a memory of the person neither would ever stop missing.
Then the woman helped him arrange drinks on the table.
The party began shortly afterward.
Children arrived with parents.
Music played softly from a portable speaker.
The birthday girl wore her pink princess dress and silver crown.
Marcus organized games.
His mother supervised the lemonade.
And Auntie helped the children decorate paper crowns.
For a while, everything was exactly as Marcus had hoped.
Then his phone rang.
He glanced at the screen.
Unknown number.
He considered ignoring it.
But the call came again.
He stepped toward the side of the house.
“Hello?”
A man's voice answered.
“Mr. Bennett.”
Marcus became still.