I’m returning his watch now.
Please give it to your mother.
Please tell June that her husband did find his way home.
It simply took twenty-two years and a frightened girl from Kentucky to bring him back.
And please tell her that the watch did exactly what Tom intended.
It helped me reach safety.
I’ve also enclosed the $8.42 you spent on my groceries.
You said I didn’t need to repay you, but I wanted to.
Twenty-two years ago, your father helped me when I had nowhere to turn.
Yesterday, you did the same for my sons.
Thank you for both.
With all my heart,
Maya Brooks
The yellow house on Pike Street
He would have been so happy to see you safe and grown.”
Maya began crying.
“I’m sorry I kept it so long.”
“Don’t apologize,” Mom said firmly. “You protected it. You kept it running. And you brought it back to us.”
Inside, both babies were crying.
Maya wiped her cheeks.
“I’m sorry. They don’t like being left alone.”
Mom smiled.
“Then we’d better go say hello.”
The house was small and sparsely furnished.
A worn sofa.
A folding table.
Two chairs.
A playpen in the corner.
The kitchen contained a single cooking pot and a box of crackers.
But everything was clean.
The bottles had been washed and lined up neatly.
A calendar hung on the refrigerator, with Monday circled in red.
Beside it, Maya had written:
FIRST DAY!
Mom went straight to the babies.
“May I hold one?”
“Please,” Maya said.
Mom lifted Noah.
He protested for a moment.
Then she settled him against her shoulder and began gently bouncing.
Within seconds, his cries faded into hiccups.
He grabbed her hair and stared up at her.
“Well, hello, handsome,” she whispered.
Maya picked up Eli.
I began carrying groceries inside.
It took several trips.
When Maya saw everything, she stopped me.
“Rachel, I can’t accept all this. You’ve already done too much.”
“It was Mom’s idea,” I said. “And believe me, arguing won’t help.”
“I heard that,” Mom called from the living room.
Maya laughed.
Then her eyes filled again.
“I promise I’ll repay you once I start getting paid.”
I reached into my pocket.
Pulled out the little bag of coins she’d left for me.
The eight dollars and forty-two cents.
And placed it back into her hand.
