The night before our first real road trip in 30 years, I got an email: CANCELED. I called my husband. ‘What happened?’ He said, ‘I canceled it. My sister needs you to watch her kids.’

quit, she called me.

If she wanted a weekend away, she called me.

If one of the children got sick, she contacted me before their own father.

That evening, a text from her appeared.

Thanks for understanding. Daniel said you’d be happy to help.

A second message followed.

Kids will be there at 7 a.m. Don’t make breakfast too sugary.

I read it for several seconds before typing back.

They won’t.

The typing bubbles appeared almost immediately.

Before Melissa could respond, Daniel called.

“What did you say to Melissa?”