Chapter 10
On field day, I ran twenty feet holding a spoon with a plastic egg balanced on it.
I dropped the egg three times.
Lily laughed so hard she had to stop running.
Daniel waited at the finish line with two cups of water and a grin I had not seen in more than a year.
“You two broke every rule of racing,” he said.
“We had fun,” Lily replied.
“That’s the one rule I care about.”
We stayed until the last class finished. I rested when I needed to. Lily sat beside me under a tree and told me which events she liked best.
I had once feared I would miss days like this.
I watched her braid grass between her fingers and felt the ordinary afternoon settle around us.
The months since I found the desk drawer had changed our family.
Owen was paying back the money under the court order. The donors had received an accounting, and those who wanted updates knew where the funds had gone. The hospital had been paid a substantial amount, and our remaining balance was manageable.
Diane visited Lily once a month. She followed every boundary we set. She asked me how I felt and listened to the answer.
Trust had not returned all at once.
It had begun to grow through small, honest moments.
After field day, we went to Rachel’s for dinner. Diane was there, helping Lily set the table.
When she saw me, she came over.
“Rachel said you won the race.”
“Rachel is kind,” I said. “I finished it.”
Diane smiled.
“I’m glad you were able to go.”
“So am I.”
She did not turn the moment into a speech about regret. She handed me a glass of water and went back to the table.
That was enough.
After dinner, Daniel took me for a drive while Lily stayed with Rachel. We turned onto a street I recognized and stopped outside a small garage.
His father’s old friend, Mr. Wallace, came out and waved us in.
Inside stood the blue Mustang.
I stopped walking.
The paint had a few new marks, but I knew the car at once.
“Daniel.”
Mr. Wallace rested a hand on the hood.
“I bought it from the man who bought it from you. When I heard why you sold it, I kept it safe. I told Daniel he could take it back whenever he was ready.”
Daniel looked stunned.
“You never told me.”
“I didn’t want you worrying about one more thing. Your wife found me last month.”
He looked at me.
“I made some calls,” I said. “We used money we had set aside after the bills were brought under control. Mr. Wallace gave us a fair price.”
Daniel ran his fingers along the door.
“I thought it was gone.”
“I know.”
His father had taught him to rebuild that car. Daniel had sold it to buy the medicine that helped me stay alive. I could not give him back the months of fear, but I could give him this piece of home.
He turned and held me so tightly I laughed against his shoulder.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
Mr. Wallace gave us the keys and told us to come back if the engine needed anything.
Daniel drove slowly at first, listening to every sound the car made. I sat beside him with the window open.
At a red light, he reached across the seat and took my hand.
“I should have told you what was happening,” he said.
“Yes.”
“I won’t keep something like that from you again.”
“I know. I’ll tell you when I’m frightened too.”
The light changed.
We picked up Lily from Rachel’s house. She ran down the steps, saw the car, and stopped.
“Dad’s Mustang?”
“Dad’s Mustang,” he said.
“Can we go to the ocean in it?”
Daniel looked at me.
“We’ll need room for bags,” I said.
“And snacks,” Lily added.
“We’ll figure it out,” he said.
She climbed into the back seat and buckled in. On the way home, she asked for a story about Grandpa fixing the engine. Daniel told her how his father let him hold a flashlight for hours and called it an important job.
Lily listened until her eyes grew heavy.
At home, Daniel carried her inside. I followed them to her room and pulled the blanket over her.
“Mom,” she murmured, “are we okay now?”
I sat on the edge of her bed.
I could not promise that nothing hard would ever happen again. I could promise that she would not face it alone.
“Yes, sweetheart. We’re together, and we’re okay.”
Daniel sat beside me.
Lily reached out in her sleep until she found one of our hands in each of hers.
We stayed there until she let go.
Later, in the quiet kitchen, Daniel opened the notebook where we kept our plans. He crossed out the trip to the ocean.
“We haven’t gone yet,” I said.
“I’m moving it to the next page. We need a date.”
May you like
I leaned against him and chose one.
For once, the future felt like something we could talk about out loud.
