“He was afraid of dying.
More than he let people see.”
Tears stung my eyes.
“But he was more afraid of leaving you with no one who’d put you first.”
I covered my mouth.
Miriam rested one weathered hand over mine.
“He couldn’t change what people were becoming.
So he built something they couldn’t take.”
I looked out over the mountains.
For thirty-eight years, I had thought Thomas’s greatest gift was the life we shared.
Now, in the quiet of a forest he had restored, I began to understand that his final gift was something else.
He had given me the freedom to decide what happened next.
And I intended to use it.
Chapter Six: My Son Came Home
Jared appeared at my gate on a rainy Wednesday afternoon.
He was alone.
When the security monitor chimed, I nearly ignored it.
Then I saw his face.
