CHAPTER 1: 1. The Envelope
Grant stared at the envelope as though it might burn him. Jonah held it steady until his father finally stopped reaching and listened. “We came to return something,” Jonah said. “Something you sent Mom when we were little.” Miles joined his brother, the mathematics medal still hanging crookedly against his shirt. I was on my feet by then, caught between wanting to protect them and knowing they had earned the right to speak. Grant looked at me. “Did you put them up to this?” “No,” I answered. “I didn’t even know about the envelope.” Jonah handed it over. Inside was a copy of a letter Grant had mailed the year he left, along with a cashier’s check for one hundred dollars. Across the bottom, in Grant’s own handwriting, were the words: This should settle things. Do not contact me again. The original had lived in a folder I kept locked away. I wondered how the boys had found it. Grant read the page twice. “That was a long time ago,” he said. “Yes,” Miles replied. “It was thirteen years. We counted.” People nearby pretended to study their programs. Parker watched from behind Celeste, his expression increasingly uncertain. Jonah took a slow breath. “We wanted you to see what one hundred dollars grew into when Mom refused to give up on us.”
