Chapter 16
Diane appealed.
She lost.
Evan appealed.
He lost too.
The restaurant’s sale restored most of Jack’s trust.
Not all.
Enough.
I repaid the rest.
Lucy objected.
I insisted.
“It was stolen because I signed without seeing.”
“You were deceived.”
“I was negligent.”
She studied me.
Then nodded.
“Fine. But no martyr face.”
I tried to fix my expression.
Jack said, “Too late.”
We became good at honesty.
Messy honesty.
Sometimes sharp.
Always cleaner than lies.
Second Rise became a community place.
Workers from Diane’s old restaurant came there.
Some apologized to Lucy.
Some admitted they suspected things.
One dishwasher, Maria, cried so hard she could barely speak.
“I heard noises once,” she said. “Diane said it was pipes.”
Lucy hugged her.
I do not think I could have.
Lucy was better than me in many ways.
The bakery started a fund for missing parents and custody abuse survivors.
Jack designed the logo.
A broken lock with light behind it.
He said, “Locks can be good or bad. Depends who has the key.”
I stared at him.
May you like
Thirteen years old.
Wiser than half the adults who failed him.
