"Lisa..." Jennie whispered.
The sound of her voice pulled Lisa back with a jolt to her present-day surroundings. She had been lost in the story, not paying attention to the child sitting on her lap. Lisa looked down now to see that her granddaughter's face was wet with tears.
"Oh sweetie..." Jennie said. "Don't get upset."
"But why?" the little girl wailed. "Why wouldn't you take the ring, Grandma?"
"I think maybe it's past someone's bedtime."
"Nooooooo!" She kicked her legs in protest. "No no no!"
"Come on, now." Jennie soothed. "You're getting yourself all worked up."
"You can't stop now! I have to know how it ends!"
"But you know how it ends." Jennie said. "We're your grandparents, remember?"
The little girl shook her head. "You stayed though, right? You didn't go?"
Jennie sighed, and Lisa met her eyes over their granddaughter's head. "What do you think?" she whispered.
"Go ahead." Lisa replied. "We're almost at the end now."
"All right." Jennie said. "Ten more minutes. But then it's straight upstairs to bed."
The child sniffled and nodded in agreement.
"Now where were we?" Jennie asked, turning her attention back to Lisa.
"I think we both got out..." Lisa said. "I helped you with your suitcase. And then I kissed you goodbye."
Jennie nodded. "And then you got back in the car and drove away."
