Chapter 17
One year after the dinner, I hosted a meal.
Not at my home.
At the legal clinic.
Round tables.
Paper plates.
No porcelain.
That was my private joke with Rebecca.
Maya brought Lila and Sophie.
Nora brought Eli.
Danielle brought her new girlfriend.
Detective Stone came late with flowers and an apology for hating parties.
Rebecca gave a toast.
“To locked doors opened.”
Everyone raised glasses.
Juice.
Tea.
Sparkling water.
Nothing fancy.
Nothing inherited from people who confused wealth with worth.
During dinner, Sophie dropped her fork and froze.
Lila reached for her.
“It’s okay.”
Sophie whispered, “Will dinner stop?”
The room went quiet.
Not the old silence.
A gentle one.
Maya picked up the fork.
“I drop things all the time.”
Eli dropped his spoon deliberately.
Then everyone laughed.
Sophie laughed too.
Small at first.
Then real.
I had to look away.
After dessert, I stood by the window.
Maya joined me.
“Do you miss him?”
“Adrian?”
She nodded.
“I miss who I thought he was.”
“That counts.”
“Yes. But I don’t want him back.”
“That counts more.”
She leaned her head on my shoulder.
We watched Sophie and Eli chase each other across the clinic floor.
May you like
Above the place where a secret once lived, children were running.
That felt like an answer.
