Being a single mother meant I chose my battles carefully.
Dessert before dinner wasn’t a negotiation.
***
Twenty minutes later, somebody knocked on the front door.
I wiped my hands on a dish towel and went to answer it.
A uniformed police officer stood on my porch.
For half a second, I forgot how doors worked.
“Ma’am?”
“Yes?”
A uniformed police officer stood on my porch.
“We received a call regarding a possible issue involving a child at this address. I just need to make sure everybody’s okay.”
My hand tightened around the edge of the door.
“What kind of issue?”
Before the officer could answer, Tyler appeared behind me.
“I called!”
I slowly turned.
“I just need to make sure everybody’s okay.”
Tyler came charging down the hallway with all the confidence of somebody expecting backup.
He held up my old phone, the one I’d kept charged so he could call for help if anything ever happened to me.
