Chapter 10 - The Promise Board.The next morning, Cole bought a whiteboard.
Ben watched him mount it beside the refrigerator.
Across the top, Cole wrote:
DAD'S WEEK.
Monday.
Preschool drop-off.
Office until four.
Home for dinner.
Tuesday.
Office.
Ben's swimming lesson.
Wednesday.
Work from home.
Thursday.
Office.
Movie night.
Friday.
Preschool breakfast.
Ben stared at the board.
“No planes?”
“No planes.”
“No Chicago?”
“No Chicago.”
“What if work breaks?”
Cole smiled.
“Work breaks a lot.”
“What happens?”
“Other people help fix it.”
Ben considered that revolutionary idea.
“Can Maggie have a schedule?”
Maggie walked into the kitchen.
“I apparently need one now.”
She took the marker.
Monday through Friday.
Home.
Saturday afternoon.
My apartment.
Sunday.
Home.
Ben pointed.
“Boston?”
Maggie hesitated.
“Not this week.”
He accepted that.
Cole's phone rang.
Leah.
He checked the schedule board.
Office until four.
It was eight fifteen.
He answered.
“What happened?”
“We found more transfers.”
“How much?”
“Another nine hundred thousand.”
Cole closed his eyes.
“Total?”
“Six point eight.”
“Police?”
“Not yet.”
“Lawyers?”
“Already here.”
“Evan?”
“Missing.”
Cole looked at Ben.
The boy was drawing a tiny airplane and crossing it out.
“I'll be there after drop-off.”
Leah sounded surprised.
“You're taking him?”
“Yes.”
“Cole, this is—”
“I know what it is.”
He ended the call.
Maggie watched him.
“Progress.”
“Don't sound so shocked.”
“I've known you three years.”
“Fair.”
At preschool, Ben refused to let go of Cole's hand.
Other children ran toward the classroom.
Ben stayed beside him.
Cole crouched.
“I'll be here at three.”
“You said four on the board.”
“Office until four.”
Ben frowned.
“Then how are you here at three?”
Cole realized his schedule had an error.
Maggie would normally pick Ben up.
But he had told Ben he would.
Cole looked at the teacher.
Then at his phone.
Then at Ben.
“I'll leave the office early.”
Ben searched his face.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Write it.”
Cole blinked.
“What?”
“Write it on the board.”
“The board is at home.”
Ben pointed toward a sign-in clipboard.
“Write it somewhere.”
The teacher hid a smile.
Cole took a sticky note.
DAD PICKS BEN UP AT 3:00.
He signed it.
Ben placed the note in his pocket.
Only then did he enter the classroom.
Cole stood outside for several seconds.
The teacher, Ms. Harper, approached.
“He's been having a hard time.”
Cole looked at her.
“With what?”
“Transitions.”
“What kind?”
“Any kind.”
“When somebody leaves the room.”
“When playtime ends.”
“When a parent is late.”
Cole's chest tightened.
“Why didn't I know?”
Ms. Harper hesitated.
“We sent emails.”
Cole nearly laughed at the cruelty of the answer.
Of course they had.
His inbox contained thousands.
He probably forwarded them to Maggie.
Ms. Harper continued.
“He's a wonderful kid.”
“He just needs predictability.”
Cole nodded.
“I'm working on it.”
At the office, chaos waited.
Lawyers.
Auditors.
Bank representatives.
Employees whispering.
Northstar withdrew its offer entirely.
Cole barely reacted.
At two thirty, Leah entered his office.
“The bank wants you on a call at three.”
Cole checked the clock.
“I can't.”
She stared.
“What?”
“I have pickup.”
“Cole.”
“I told him.”
“This could determine whether we have a credit line tomorrow.”
Cole stood.
“Move it to three thirty.”
“They said three.”
“Then tell them three thirty.”
She looked astonished.
“They may walk.”
Cole put on his jacket.
“Then they walk.”
Leah stared at him.
“You've changed.”
Cole paused.
“No.”
“I waited too long to change.”
At two fifty-six, Cole stood outside Ben's classroom.
Ben came through the door.
He looked around.
Then saw his father.
His whole face changed.
The smile was small.
But Cole understood what it meant.
A promise had survived until three o'clock.
Ben ran toward him.
“You came.”
Cole knelt.
“I said I would.”
Ben pulled the sticky note from his pocket.
“I kept it.”
Cole's throat tightened.
That night, after Ben went to sleep, Cole found the note on the refrigerator beside Natalie's photograph.
Dad picks Ben up at 3:00.
Maggie stood beside him.
“One promise at a time.”
Cole nodded.
His phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
It contained a photograph of Evan standing outside an airport.
Below it were five words.
You should ask Maggie everything.
Cole looked toward her.
Maggie saw his expression.
“What?”
May you like
Cole turned the phone around.
Her face went pale.
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