But it was him.
My husband.
My breath left me.
“There,” I whispered. “Lily, there he is.”
Marcus saw us at the same moment.
His entire face changed.
The exhaustion vanished beneath an expression so raw that I felt my chest tighten. He dropped his heavy olive-green duffel bag onto the floor, opened his arms wide, and cried out Lily’s name.
“Lily!”
Her welcome sign slipped from her fingers.
“Daddy!” she screamed.
She took off running.
For one perfect second, I thought I was watching the reunion I had imagined every night for two years.
Then the most bizarre and heartbreaking thing happened.
Instead of throwing herself into Marcus’ open arms, Lily veered to the left.
She ran right past him.
The crowd of onlookers gasped, and my breath caught in my throat.
Marcus remained frozen with his arms still open, confusion spreading across his face.
“Lily?” he called.
