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She lowers herself in front ofa hand on my knee with a worried expression on her face “What happened?”

I dash the tears aith the back of e breath as I stand up She follows along with me

“I’ ot some bad news”

“Is it so I can help you with?” she asks While I’ve only known her for three days, I’m touched with her motherly concern She has been brisk and polite at work, clearly not wanting to ever blur the lines between superior and subordinate But right now, she looks like she just wants to grab

I finally liftat th behind ood cry to ht?”

She’s not convinced Her brow furrows, and she studies me carefully

“Seriously,” I assure her as I reach for my car door “Thank you for your concern, but I’m really okay”

“Okay,” she says hesitantly, but clearly not believing a word I just said “If you need anything, I can give you my home phone number You can call me if you’d like to talk”

“That’s very sweet,” I say “But I’ood I’ll see you at work tomorrow, okay?”

“Sure,” she says with a nod and a halfhearted smile

I wait until she turns away fro in ht away Instead, I pull my phone back out of my purse and I call my mom

She answers right away “Hey, honey”

“Hi, Moth starts to crumble a little I have to suck in a silent breath, then let it out just as quietly to get control ofthat Hope and I couldnext week”

“Oh, Hannah… that would be wonderful Your brothers will be so excited, too”

“Awesoht voice “I’ll ot Thursday and Friday off I think I’ll try to find a flight out Wednesday night Think someone can pick us up from the airport?”