Thomas’s junk.”
But the moment she tore it open and saw what was inside, all the color drained from her face. The envelope slipped from her fingers.
It was as if it refused to stay in her hands.
Karen dropped hard onto the curb beside me, shaking, her breathing shallow and uneven.
Inside the bag was a thick envelope. I stared at the bold, blocky handwriting while my hands trembled.
Karen leaned over and snatched it before I could react. She struggled with the seal, ripped it open, and skimmed the first page.
Then she stumbled and dropped everything. Receipts and a folded letter scattered across the pavement.
I crouched to gather them, glancing at one of the receipts — $15,000 paid to Royal Seas Cruises. My stomach twisted. Dad wasn’t the type to throw money around like that.
“Karen, what is this?”
Her voice sounded ragged. “He… he bought us a cruise. For our anniversary. He never told me.”
Aunt Lucy stepped closer. “Let her read the letter.”
Karen pressed a trembling hand to her mouth before shoving the page toward me.
“Read it, Hazel. Please. Out loud.”
I swallowed and recognized Dad’s heavy handwriting immediately.
“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.
If you can’t forgive me, I understand.
All I ever wanted was to make things right.
—Thomas.”
No one spoke.
Karen buried her face in her hands, sobbing.
Aunt Lucy squeezed my arm. “He really did try, Hazel. For both of you.”
The mechanic — Pete — stood nearby, awkwardly twisting his cap between his fingers.
“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 stared at the envelope like it might explode.
She wiped her eyes with the back 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 toward Aunt Lucy. “Take it. All of it.”
Aunt Lucy didn’t reach for it.
“It goes into the estate account,” she said firmly. “You don’t get to buy your way out of this.”
Karen’s voice faltered. “If you want to go, go, Hazel. Or we can — 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, steady and calm. “Not here. Home. Then lawyers.”
I lifted my chin.
“Call your boss. Right now. Tell him the title is disputed, the sale is contested, and if that car moves again, the next call is to the police — and my attorney.”
Pete blinked once, then nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
I turned to Karen. “You don’t get to hide behind ‘surviving spouse’ after what you just did.”
Aunt Lucy stepped forward, speaking loud enough for the remaining mourners drifting through the lot.
“Karen will sign whatever the lawyer puts in front of her. Today.”
Karen opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
Pete nodded, glancing nervously between us. “I’ll tell my boss the sale is frozen — and I’ll put it in writing.”
“I almost asked Dad for help last week,” I blurted, surprising even myself. “I was behind on rent. I kept putting it off. Now I never can.”
Karen met my gaze. Her mascara had run, making her look younger somehow… and lost. “We all wanted something from him. That’s the problem, isn’t it? We just kept taking.”
I nodded slowly, my throat tightening. Inside the envelope, behind the letter, was a small photograph—Dad and me in the garage, both laughing, grease smudged everywhere. On the back, in his jagged handwriting: “We don’t quit on things we love.”
