The call ended with a soft click, the speaker going silent as Daniel lowered the phone and set it carefully in the console. For a moment, the car hummed with nothing but the steady rhythm of tires against asphalt and the low murmur of traffic outside. The late afternoon sun spilled through the windshield, casting warm streaks of gold across the dashboard.
Daniel didn’t realize he was smiling until a small, curious voice pulled him back to himself.
“Daddy?” Isabella leaned forward from her car seat, her brown eyes bright and inquisitive, clutching her stuffed bunny to her chest. “Why are you smiling?”
Daniel glanced at her in the rearview mirror. Her head was tilted slightly to the side, curls slipping loose from their clip, her expression a perfect mix of wonder and mischief.
“Did Miss
