She moves into the headlights’ path blocking enough of the beam so that I can see her face. There’s a look in her eye that I haven’t seen before. It’s vacant and shadowed. I cringe slightly and feel the grip of the knot that has made a home in my stomach.

It’s missing – the joy that lived in those eyes when I used to walk in the door and receive a little girl that launched herself into my arms. She would fling her limbs around me and do her best to crush me with a hug. Her voice would be a summer’s breeze, a small song that my heart would embrace as she nattered on about her day. That never changed no matter how she matured.

She was my ray of sunshine… right up until I had to leave. I just couldn’t do it anymore… not even for her.

The rain that had pooled on my collar was quicksilver down my spine. I ignored it. It was nothing compared to the chill that emanated from her mouth, “What are you doing here?”

I reached under my jacket and stretched out my hand. “Happy Birthday sweetheart.”