Tessa took every no personally, even though I kept telling her it had nothing to do with her dancing.
Then Graham’s closest friend, Colin, happened to join us for Sunday dinner.
He and Graham had known each other since they were teenagers. He had been at our wedding, helped Graham move us into our first house, and had been around Tessa since she was a baby.
That night, Tessa brought up ballet again.
“If I leave school early on those days, I can take the first bus,” she said. “I’ll wait at the studio until class starts.”
“And how are you getting home at nine?” I asked.
Her face fell.
“I’ll figure it out.”
“That’s not good enough.”
She looked at Graham, hoping he would overrule me, but he only shook his head.
“I’m sorry, Tess. Your mom’s right.”
For a moment, the table went quiet.
