“This app is incredible. I can’t believe your dad won’t use it,” Sarah said, her mouth full of Doritos as Marissa displayed the features and functionality of the coaches’ app she’d developed. Sarah had helped her fine-tune a few things that day, and they’d uploaded it to the app store under a new account Sarah created for her a few hours ago. It was linked to her bank account for now, but she’d talk to Wes about transferring it to Marissa’s once he got back.

“He says his paper and pen are more reliable,” Marissa said, dipping her finger in her empty ice cream bowl and then licking the melted chocolate sauce.

“Well, they can’t be hacked, I guess,” Sarah said.

Over her career, she’d met a lot of technology resisters. People like Wes who were reluctant to get on board with online trends or systems that could make their life easier. For most it was fear of change, and for others it was the inability to learn something new. Sarah suspected that with Wes, it was the former. He liked consistency and routines. He trusted things he could rely on. But if he gave this app a chance, she knew he’d quickly appreciate the efficiency.

“He doesn’t like technology because he says no amount of science and technology was able to save my mom,” Marissa said quietly.

Sarah’s stomach lurched. This was the first time Marissa had mentioned Kelly or her illness, and she wasn’t exactly sure what to say. She’d let Marissa lead. If she wanted to talk about it, Sarah would listen. “I can see how he could feel that way,” she said gently.

Wes and Marissa had been through the unimaginable, losing a wife and a mother. Sarah wouldn’t even pretend to know how hard that must have been. And it could be easy to lose faith in medical advances and technology when they hadn’t worked to save the most important person in their lives.

Marissa sighed. “I was little, so I don’t remember a lot about it, but I remember how sad Dad was all the time.”

Sarah nodded. “I was very sorry to hear about it.”

Marissa crunched on a chip and looked pensive for a moment before asking, “Did you know my mom?”

Sarah nodded as she curled her legs under her on the chair. “We had different friends in school, but we had some classes together, and she was on the debate team with me. I remember her personality the most. She was as vibrant as her red hair.” Kelly was fiery and bold and brave. Everyone liked her. It was impossible not to—she had a magnetic personality. Her presence lit up a room, and she was kindhearted and nice to everyone.

“People say I look like her,” Marissa said.