“Did you make friends?”
“Yes.”
“Anyone special?”
She laughed too quickly. “Mom.”
That told me more than any answer could have.
Then she told me she was coming home for a visit.
I was thrilled.
I started planning meals she liked. I washed her old blankets. I even bought flowers, though money was still tight and I had no business buying flowers for my own house. I asked her to send pictures of her life there.
“Just one,” I said. “Your school, your room, your friends, anything.”
“You’ll see when I get there.”
