Donna was across the floor and wrapped around Carly in an instant, stroking her hair. “I never got the mail yesterday. I’ll walk out with you. I’ll wait till you get to them,” Donna said against Carly’s ear. “Let’s go.”

John caught up to them as Carly reached for the doorknob. The last time she touched it would have been yesterday, when she ran. Maybe for her life. The thought stabbed him and he darted his hand under hers and gripped it first. They looked at each other.

“Have a good day, Carlzee. Go get ’em,” he said past a tight throat, and kissed her forehead. He caught Donna watching them through tears. He smiled at her, with her daughter wrapped in his hug. She smiled back, thawing.

In the few minutes that Donna took to make a slow circuit of the path to the mailbox and back, while Carly regained her swagger, her boots striking the street in growing determination, the worry came back to him. A big, heaping scoop of it.

“What was she talking about?” he asked when Donna was back inside, pouring more coffee. She slid a mug to him but didn’t put the cream in. Halfway home, maybe. “What you said about it being nonstop? She said it was getting out of control? What is?”

“Oh, the video clip. The police website has a Twitter or Facebook thing. Some of the kids’ parents saw it, and, you know, this stuff just flies. I don’t know what’s going to happen with it or how it’s going to go over with everyone. I just hope it’s not too much for her. Do you think I should call the school?”

John would have thought he’d burned through all his control the night before. Standing there as the bottom fell out again, it fell hard, but not far. He found that he owned another level of pushback, another subbasement of resolve. He wasn’t ready for it, but somehow he was ready for not being ready.

He told Donna to wait and see. No need to make a thing of it if it wasn’t going to be a thing. He managed his face. He managed his voice. He showered and didn’t cut himself with the razor. He dressed and set out for a few errands.

He stopped by his office to get the things he needed to work from home for the rest of the week. They understood. They’d seen the video. They told him to take all the time he needed.

Donna was shaken to the soul. She didn’t need a lot. Almost nothing. That’s why he liked her. That’s why it was easy. But she needed him now and that was kind of nice. Or it was convenient. Maybe both. Then John wasn’t sure what the difference between those two things might be.