Chapter 2: The Phone He Turned Face-Down
PART 2 ⬇️
I pushed through the gate — and stopped.
It was a bike training track.
A small, private one.
Cones set up in a row, a smooth flat surface, a folding table with a water bottle and a stopwatch on it.
Nathan was already kneeling beside Sophie, adjusting her helmet straps.
"Okay, remember what we practiced," he said quietly.
"Slow at the first cone.
Don't look down."
Sophie nodded, her face tight with concentration.
Neither of them had noticed me yet.
I stood there, unable to move.
My throat felt like it was closing.
Then Sophie saw me.
Her expression didn't show guilt.
It showed panic — the kind a child shows when a surprise is about to be ruined.
"Mom, no — you weren't supposed to come!"
Nathan stood up slowly and turned around.
He didn't look like a man hiding something terrible.
He looked like a man who had just watched months of planning fall apart in ten seconds.
"She wanted to ride without training wheels," he said.
"By herself.
She's been working on it every evening." He paused.
"She wanted to show you.
On your birthday.
Next week."
I looked at Sophie.
She was still gripping her handlebars, eyes wide, waiting for my reaction.
"I made him promise not to tell you," she whispered.
"I wanted it to be just for you, Mom."
My legs went weak.
But then Nathan's phone buzzed on the table.
He glanced at the screen — and something in his face shifted.
He turned it face-down before I could see who was calling.
---
What was on that phone — and why didn't Nathan want me to see it?
May you like
The full story goes further than you'd expect.
Click the link below to read everything.
