Chapter 26 - THE OLD WATCH
Lena found Sorrel’s old smartwatch in a storage box.
By then it was ancient.
Battery dead.
Band cracked.
“Mommy, what’s this?”
Sorrel stared.
I was visiting.
She looked at me.
Her decision.
“My old watch.”
“Can I use?”
“No. It doesn’t work.”
“What did it do?”
“Calls. Location. Recording.”
“Recording?”
Sorrel smiled.
“It helped Grandpa hear something important once.”
Lena looked at me.
“What?”
Sorrel answered before I did.
“Something an adult said when I was little.”
No details.
Age appropriate.
“Was adult bad?”
“She did bad things.”
“Did watch save you?”
Sorrel paused.
“No.”
I looked at her.
She continued:
“Grandpa came home. Then the watch helped prove I was telling the truth.”
That distinction mattered.
The watch did not rescue a child.
People acted.
Evidence helped.
Lena accepted.
“Can I have new watch?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“You’re four.”
“Grandpa?”
I shrugged.
“Ask your mother.”
Sorrel glared.
May you like
I had learned.
No grandparent override.
