Karen stood slowly, brushing dirt from her skirt. She didn’t look at me as she walked back — her eyes were red, her cheeks blotchy.
For a moment, I saw the woman Dad had tried so hard to love, not just the woman who’d sold his car.
Before I could stand, a silver sedan rolled into the lot, tires crunching over gravel. The driver — young, oil under his nails — jumped out with a sealed plastic bag, looking rattled.
I felt so helpless.
“Are you Hazel?” he asked, glancing between Karen and me. “Buyer wanted a quick inspection of the Shelby before he signed the final paperwork. We were told to meet him here. We found this. The boss said you needed to see it first.”
Karen moved fast, grabbing for the bag. “It’s probably just more of Thomas’s junk.”
But as she ripped it open and saw what was inside, her face lost all color. The envelope fluttered to the ground.
It was like it couldn’t stand being in her hands anymore.
Karen sat hard on the curb beside me, shaking, her breathing gone thin.
“It’s probably just more of Thomas’s junk.”
Inside the bag was a thick envelope. I stared at the blocky handwriting, my hands shaking.
Karen reached over, snatching it from me before I could move. She fumbled with the seal, tore it open, and scanned the first page.
She staggered and dropped the papers. Receipts and a letter fanned out across the pavement.
I bent to pick them up, glancing at the receipt — $15,000 paid to Royal Seas Cruises. My stomach turned. Dad didn’t throw money around.
Inside the bag was a thick envelope.
“Karen, what is this?”
Her voice was raw. “He… he bought us a cruise. For our anniversary. He never said anything.”
Aunt Lucy stepped closer. “Let her read the letter.”
Karen pressed a trembling hand to her mouth, then shoved the page at me.
“Read it, Hazel. Please. Out loud.”
I swallowed, finding Dad’s heavy script.
“Karen, what is this?”
“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.
I know you better than you think.
If you can’t forgive me, I understand.
All I ever wanted was to make things right.
—Thomas.”
Everyone was silent.
Karen covered her face, sobbing.
Aunt Lucy squeezed my arm. “He really did try, Hazel. For both of you.”
If you can’t forgive me, I understand.
The mechanic, Pete, stood awkwardly with his cap in his hands.
“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 looked at the envelope as if it was a bomb about to go off.
She wiped her eyes with the heel 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 at Aunt Lucy. “Take it. All of it.”
“Take the cruise. Hazel, please. I can’t… I can’t even look at it.”
Aunt Lucy didn’t touch it.
“It goes into the estate account,” she said. “You don’t get to buy your way out of this.”
“If you want to go, go, Hazel. Or we can —” Karen’s voice faltered. “Maybe you and I could use a reset too. I don’t expect forgiveness. I just can’t be alone right now.”
Aunt Lucy stepped in, her presence a soft anchor. “Not here. Home. Then lawyers.”
I lifted my chin.
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