A grandmother’s promise
As I hung up, a small figure emerged from the shadows, Zoe, her eyes wide with a fear no child should know. She clung to me, her small frame shivering. “Grandma, is Mommy okay?” she asked, her voice a fragile thread of sound. I held her close, feeling her heartbeat against mine. “She’s going to be just fine, sweetheart,” I lied smoothly, cloaking my terror in a veil of composure. “I’m here now, and I’m not letting anything happen to either of you.”