He Sent Every Dollar, So Why Was My Daughter Starving? novel · Chapter 4 of 24

Chapter 4: The Fence

Maisy let go of my hand and ran.

"Daddy!"

She hit his legs so hard his duffel bag fell over.

Kurt went down on one knee in the dirt of the school yard and picked her up with both arms.

He pressed his face into her curls and did not move.

The other parents stopped talking.

A mother near the gate put a hand over her mouth.

Someone whispered, "That's Emmeline's husband. He's really home."

I stood where I was with my fingers clamped on the strap of my purse.

Two years had changed him.

He was broader, and there was gray in his eyebrow scar, and his uniform hung looser on him than it should.

He was thin in the face.

He had not slept since our call.

"Hey, baby girl," he said into her hair. "Hey. Look at you. You got so big."

"You came on a plane?"

"I came on three planes."

"Did you bring me a present?"

"I brought you me."

She thought about that and nodded, pleased.

Then he looked up at me over her head.

He did not smile and he did not step forward.

He only waited for me to decide.

"You said Thursday," I said.

"I got on the first flight I could." His voice was low. "Emmeline, I did not stop at base housing. I did not stop at a hotel. I came straight to this fence."

"How did you know where she goes?"

"You told me, once. Two years ago."

My throat hurt.

I had forgotten that I told him anything.

"Come home," I said. "She's getting cold."

We walked the six blocks with the whole town watching from porches.

Maisy rode on his shoulders and told him about the cat next door, the preschool turtle, and the soup.

"What soup?" Kurt asked.

"The chicken soup," she said. "Mr. Bissell gave me a grilled cheese."

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