The Anniversary by Amy Gutman Page B

divorce had not been smooth.
    19
    She doubted if he’d forgiven her for walking out on him. Still, at 20
    this point, even he had to see that the marriage couldn’t have 21
    lasted. And now that he had a new life, he had to be less angry.
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    Last she’d heard, he had a son and a baby on the way. He worked 23
    for a Chicago accounting firm. His wife was a stay-at-home mom.
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    There was another reason to call Kevin, of course. Callie thought 25
    of Anna. Even if she hadn’t received the note, there was still that 26
    conversation. Anna missed her father. That was the simple truth.
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    She owed it to Anna to talk to Kevin, to try to repair the damage.
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    Remorse washed over her as she thought how blind she’d been, 29
    how she’d had absolutely no idea what Anna was going through.
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    The fact that she simply hadn’t known didn’t seem like an ex-31
    cuse. She should have suspected something. She should have 32
    thought to ask.
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    Kevin’s number wasn’t in her Filofax. She had it somewhere 34
    locked in a file drawer along with her divorce decree. Squatting 35 S
    by the drawer, she flipped through folders, then finally pulled 36 R
    one out.
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    The notepad page where she’d scribbled his number was yel-1
    lowed and dry with age. How long ago had she written it down?
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    Was it even good anymore? She stared at the digits, uncertain, 3
    pondering what to do.
    4
    It would be so easy to pick up the phone, simply to place the 5
    call. But once she’d taken that step, there was no going back.
    6
    Maybe she should at least put it off until Anna wasn’t home.
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    What if Anna overheard? Or happened to pick up the phone?
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    Rick, too, that was another thing. He’d be getting back tonight.
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    He’d be over in just a couple of hours, and she needed to shower 10
    and dress.
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    Not a sound from Anna’s room. Callie wondered what she was 12
    doing. Restless, she finally stood up and went into the hallway.
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    As she knocked on Anna’s door, Callie noticed that the sign 14
    was gone.
    15
    A rustle from inside. “Come in,” Anna called.
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    Automatically, Callie’s eyes moved to the bed, but Anna wasn’t 17
    there. Instead, she was at her computer, her eyes glued to the 18
    screen. The clothes that had covered the monitor were now piled 19
    high on a chair. Anna was staring at the screen, her hand glued 20
    to the mouse.
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    Callie stepped up behind her.
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    “Wait, okay?” said Anna. She was staring at a square filled with 23
    brightly colored boxes that were rapidly disappearing. A click of 24
    the mouse and a box was gone. Finally, none was left.
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    A celebratory burst of canned music.
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    “There,” Anna said.
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    “Whatcha doing?” Callie asked.
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    “Just this game Henry showed me.”
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    “Something on the Internet?”
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    “No, it’s on a disk.”
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    Good, Callie thought. But didn’t say anything. She’d limited 32
    Anna’s AOL access to the kids-only areas. Still, she worried 33
    about who might be lurking in those so-called kids’ chat rooms.
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    She’d stressed to Anna the importance of abiding by strict ground S 35
    rules. Never give out your real name. Never say where you live. Tell R 36
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    me right away if anyone wants to meet you. She’d have liked to bar 2
    Anna from the Internet, but the kids all had AOL.
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    “Homework done?”
    4
    “Mah-um. ” It was the two-syllable version.
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    “Well?”
    6
    “Yeah. You want to see it?” Chin thrust out, defiant.
    7
    “That’s okay. I trust you.”
    8
    “No you don’t,” said Anna. “If you trusted me, you wouldn’t 9
    ask. It’s like you have to be with me every second. I mean, all 10
    weekend, I had to do stuff with you. The whole weekend.”
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    It was true, Callie thought. She’d been more protective than