Then longer.
She brought iced lemonade and little card games.
She read funny lines from old children’s books in a serious voice just to see if they reacted.
Once, she told such a terrible knock-knock joke that Ethan let out a sound so sudden it startled even him.
It wasn’t quite laughter.
But it was close.
Hannah pressed a hand to her chest. “Well now. I almost had you.”
A few days later, Michael came home early from a meeting that had ended faster than expected.
As he stepped into the foyer, he heard something from the back of the house.
A splash.
Then a high, broken sound.
Then another.
He froze.
It took him a second to understand what he was hearing.
Laughter.
He moved toward the sound like a man walking through a dream he was afraid to wake from.
By the time he reached the pool, his breath had caught in his throat.
Hannah was in the shallow end, jeans rolled, blouse damp, one hand under Ethan’s back as he floated with water wings on his arms.
Evan was nearby on the step, kicking hard and laughing so loudly it bounced off the patio stone.
