The beach day had been chaotic. On more than one occasion, I had to step in before someone tried to give Zach a piece of their mind. Elliot, luckily, hadn’t noticed and had the time of his life. Running and playing at the beach, he ran circles around Zach. I only laughed. It felt good for once not being the one chasing him around.

Ron had headed back early to the hotel, claiming he had a meeting he needed to get to in the morning. Elliot fell asleep in my arm around 9 p.m. after tiring ...