I pressed a hand against my chest. “Why is Jonathan’s hat here?”
Another man came to stand beside him. Marcus, Jonathan’s former supervisor.
He offered me an envelope.
“Your husband kept this in his locker,” he said. “He told us if the right day ever came, we’d know. Yesterday Teresa told Luis what Letty did. Luis told us. And we came, because that’s what you do for family.”
I stared at the envelope.
My name was written on it in Jonathan’s handwriting.
“For Piper.”
My knees almost gave out.
Letty looked at me with tears in her eyes. “Mom, they knew Dad.”
I laughed and cried all at once.
Marcus cleared his throat. “Your husband talked about you girls every break he had. We knew about Letty’s soccer cleats, your blueberry pancakes, and how you always packed Jon an extra lunch in case one of us needed food.”
“Oh my goodness,” I said, the memories rushing back.
Then Marcus’s expression softened. “When Jonathan got sick, he started a jar in the break room for families getting crushed by cancer bills. He said if he knew what this felt like, there had to be other families drowning too. He called it the Keep Going Fund.”
Millie’s mother lifted her head.
Marcus placed a check on the desk.
“We figured the fund had found where it belonged.”
Millie’s mother stared at it. “No. I can’t take that.”
“Yes, you can,” I said before anyone else could answer. “You can. Because if Jonathan started that fund, then he started it for families exactly like yours.”
Jenna looked at me and cried even harder.
“And if this school knew that child was hiding in a bathroom,” I said, turning to Mr. Brennan, “then this room is not where the story ends.”
Millie touched the wig near her temple as though she still was not sure it was real. Letty smiled at her. “Different doesn’t have to mean bad.”
That was when she finally looked at the men who had worked beside my husband. “You really came here because I cut my hair?”
Hank rubbed at his eyes. “No, kiddo. We came because the second Luis told us what you did, every one of us said the same thing.”
He looked at me, then at Letty.
“That’s Jonathan’s girl.”
Silence filled the room.
I accepted the envelope with both hands. “I can’t read this in front of people.”
“I can read what he left with me,” Marcus said. “You read yours later.”
He cleared his throat and unfolded a note from his pocket:
“If my girls ever forget what kind of man I tried to be, remind them by how you show up.
Letty will always lead with her heart. Piper will pretend she’s fine and carry too much by herself. Don’t let either one of them stand alone if you can help it.”
I covered my mouth.
Millie’s mother crossed the room and knelt beside me. “I’m Jenna,” she said softly. “And… thank you. I don’t know how to thank your daughter.”
I swallowed hard. “Our family fought cancer too. Letty watched all of it happen to her father. She knows what it costs people.”
Jenna’s face collapsed.
Letty blushed. “I just didn’t want Millie hiding in the bathroom at lunch anymore.”
Millie looked at her.
“I hate that bathroom,” she said.
“I know, Millie,” Letty said.
CONTINUE READING…>>
To see the full cooking instructions, go to the next page or click the Open button (>) and don't forget to SHARE it with your friends on Facebook.
