Then she stumbled and dropped everything. Receipts and a folded letter scattered across the pavement.
I crouched to gather them, glancing at one of the receipts — $15,000 paid to Royal Seas Cruises. My stomach twisted. Dad wasn’t the type to throw money around like that.
“Karen, what is this?”
Her voice sounded ragged. “He… he bought us a cruise. For our anniversary. He never told me.”
Aunt Lucy stepped closer. “Let her read the letter.”
Karen pressed a trembling hand to her mouth before shoving the page toward me.
“Read it, Hazel. Please. Out loud.”
I swallowed and recognized Dad’s heavy handwriting immediately.
“Karen,
I know you better than you think.
If you’re reading this, it means you finally got rid of the Shelby. I was never perfect. I shut down after Megan died. Yes, we’d been divorced for a long time, but she was the mother of my only child.
But I never stopped loving you. I bought us this cruise hoping we’d find each other again.
I know you never understood why I kept that car — it was the only piece of my father I had left.
I was just trying to save us, in my own clumsy way.
If you can’t forgive me, I understand.
All I ever wanted was to make things right.
—Thomas.”
No one spoke.
Karen buried her face in her hands, sobbing.
Aunt Lucy squeezed my arm. “He really did try, Hazel. For both of you.”
The mechanic — Pete — stood nearby, awkwardly twisting his cap between his fingers.
“I’m really sorry, Hazel. My boss says we can undo the sale if you want. Nobody knew about any of this.”
“Nothing’s filed yet,” he added. “Not officially.”
I swallowed hard. Karen stared at the envelope like it might explode.
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I can’t take it back. Not after what I’ve done. Take the money. Take the cruise. Hazel, please. I can’t… I can’t even look at it.”
She shoved the envelope toward Aunt Lucy. “Take it. All of it.”
Leave a Comment