CHAPTER 6: THE SAFE
The attorney drove me to Garrett's house.
It felt strange walking up the driveway. The last time I had been here, I had been thrown out with nothing.
Now I was walking in with a key.
The house was empty. The furniture was still there, but it felt hollow, abandoned.
I walked into the study and found the painting—a landscape of a lake at sunset. It was Garrett's favorite.
I lifted it off the wall.
Behind it was a small safe, built into the wall.
I entered the combination. I knew it by heart. It was the date we had kissed behind the bleachers.
The safe clicked open.
Inside, there was a small velvet box.
I opened it.
And I started to cry.
Inside the box was a diamond ring.
The one he had promised me fifty-three years ago.
I pulled it out and slipped it onto my finger. It fit perfectly.
"I didn't forget," I whispered. "You didn't forget."
I sat down on the floor of the study, holding the ring to my chest, and cried for a long time.
When I finally stood up, I felt something I hadn't felt in weeks.
May you like
Hope.
And I knew what I had to do next.
