"I don't think so. They've never met them."
"Then listen to me," she said. "Whatever happens with your father can happen after you get to our girls. They didn't do anything wrong. They need you."
Daniel closed his eyes. He had called hoping Grace would somehow explain how to face a man he had spent twelve years avoiding. She had given him something simpler: a reminder that his most important relationship was not the one behind him.
"I'm getting on," he said.
"Good. Bring Ruby and Pearl home. We'll deal with everything else together."
He ended the call and looked at Andre. "Please notify the captain directly," he said. "Make sure the original assignments and the change log are preserved. The girls are unaccompanied minors, and someone told you I approved a change I didn't know about."
Andre nodded. "I will. I'm going to write the account myself."
"Thank you."
Daniel took a breath and walked into the jet bridge. For the first time since the Denver runway, he was no longer running. His daughters were at the other end, and he needed to arrive with enough steadiness left to make them feel safe. Whatever waited beside seat 2C would have to be faced after that.
On the aircraft, Pearl was getting tired of being brave. She had listened to Ruby's message from their father three times and felt better each time he said he was coming, but her stomach still twisted whenever someone in a uniform passed without stopping. She missed Grandma Bell's kitchen and the sound of her mother's voice. Most of all, she wished she had not looked at the man's watch, because it had introduced a question her sister could not answer.
"I have to use the bathroom," she whispered to Jenna when the younger attendant returned with a bottle of water.
Jenna looked at the rear lavatory door. A maintenance tag had just been placed over the handle after a flushing problem, and the indicator above it glowed red. She sighed and glanced at the crowded aisle, where the final passengers were still arranging their luggage. "That one's out of service. The forward lavatory is available, but let me check that the aisle is clear before you go."
Walter Finch looked up from the word-search booklet he had taken from his coat pocket. "I can watch her seat," he offered. "I've been sitting on it for five minutes, which makes me something of an expert."
Jenna almost smiled. She could see the little girl trying not to fidget. "Go straight to the front and come straight back, Pearl. If somebody stops you, tell them I said you could use the forward lavatory."
Pearl nodded, stepped out carefully past Walter's cane, and began the long walk toward the front. The aisle seemed different without Ruby ahead of her. At row ten, a man lifted his briefcase to let her pass; at row fifteen, a woman moved her knees so Pearl would not have to squeeze sideways. The woman in the gray sweater recognized the birthday badge and gave her an encouraging smile that Pearl found almost as confusing as the cruelty from earlier.