The millionaire knew our address before we even gave it to him — then Grace’s secret was finally revealed, leaving us completely stunned.
This answer was even less logical.
For informational purposes only.
Before I could ask another question, Arthur turned towards the kitchen.
« Has either of you eaten today? »
« We ate toast, » said Annie.
I looked at it.
Half a slice of toast each didn’t seem worth mentioning, but Annie had always taken Grace literally when she told us never to overdo it.
Arthur noticed my expression.
« Toast, » he repeated. « Anything else? »
« No, sir. »
He closed his eyes for a moment.
When he opened them, the severity was back, but it seemed directed against himself rather than against us.
“Please sit down.”
« We should go home, » I said. « Grace doesn’t know where we are. »
« And someone is already on their way to see her. »
That frightened me more than it reassured me.
“WHO?”
« Dr. Helen Mercer. »
« Is she a real doctor? »
Arthur seemed genuinely offended.
« She headed the emergency department at St. Matthew’s Hospital for twelve years. »
Annie pulled my sleeve.
« It looks real. »
Arthur almost cracked a smile.
« She retired from hospital work last spring. Lately, she spends most of her time complaining that retirement is boring. »
He opened the refrigerator.
It was bigger than the one in our entire kitchen.
I expected to find luxury items, but most of the shelves were almost empty. There were eggs, milk, cheese, apples, a covered salad bowl, and several boxes with expiration dates.
Arthur stared at her as if he had forgotten why he had opened it.
Finally, he said, « Mrs. Alvarez leaves soup on Thursdays. »
« It’s Tuesday, » I said.
« I know. »
He checked a container.
« Fortunately, the soup survives Tuesdays. »
He heated three bowls.
When he placed mine in front of me, I hesitated.
« We haven’t finished the garden yet. »
Arthur was sitting opposite us.
« You’ve found something I thought was lost forever seventeen years ago. I think the case is closed. »
« We didn’t find it for you, » I said. « It was right there. »
« The most important things are. »
I didn’t know what he meant by that either.
The soup smelled of chicken and herbs. Annie waited for Arthur to pick up his spoon before touching hers.
That’s something Grace had taught us.
Arthur noticed it.
« Your sister taught you good manners. »
« She teaches us everything, » said Annie.
A shadow passed across his face.
« Yes, » he murmured. « I suppose she would. »
And there it was again.
There was something in the way he spoke about Grace.
Not like a stranger.
I put down my spoon.
« How do you know her? »
Arthur looked at me.
For the first time since we moved into the house, he seemed uncertain.
Then the phone rang.
He responded immediately.
« Helen? »
His posture changed as he listened.
« What did you find? »
I got up.
Annie also stood up.
Arthur raised a hand.
« No, they are here with me. »
A pause.
« Yes. »
Another break.
« Then let her in. »
I had a knot in my stomach.
« Where should I take him? »
Arthur ignored me for a moment.
« Yes. I understand. »
He hung up.
« What happened? » I asked.
« Your sister is dehydrated and has a fever. »
« Is she going to the hospital? »
« Dr. Mercer believes she should be properly examined. She is arranging for her transport. »
« We have to leave. »
Arthur nodded.
« I’ll take you. »
Twenty minutes later, we were sitting in the back of a black sedan that looked too shiny for children with dirty shoes.
Arthur sat next to us instead of in front.
Nobody talked much.
When we arrived at St. Matthew’s Medical Center, Grace was already inside.
A nurse led Annie and me into a waiting room while Arthur spoke quietly with someone near the desk.
I hated waiting rooms.
They made every minute seem important.
Annie was sitting next to me, swinging her feet without touching the ground.
« Do you think Grace is crazy? »
« Us? »
« For your departure. »
« She’ll be furious when she gets better. »
Annie is thinking about it.
« It’s good. »
I understood what she meant.
If Grace still had enough energy to be angry, it meant she was getting better.
Arthur returned with two paper cups filled with water.
« Dr. Mercer says your sister has a respiratory infection and is severely dehydrated. She is being given fluids and medication. »
« Will she make it? »
« Yes. »
He replied quickly enough for me to believe him.
My shoulders relaxed for the first time that day.
« Can we see her? »
« Soon. »
He sat down in the chair opposite us.
Without the manor house surrounding him, Arthur looked smaller.
Older too.
He slowly turned his wife’s ring between his fingers.
« You’ve really been looking for this for seventeen years? » Annie asked.
Arthur nodded.
“My wife, Eleanor, lost it at a charity reception at our house. We had nearly forty people in the garden that evening. The landscapers dug around the rose bushes the following week, but no one could find it.”
« Maybe she’s fallen deeper, » Annie said.
« Apparently. »
« Was she sad? »
Arthur looked at the ring.
« She pretended not to. »
« That’s what Grace does. »
Arthur looked up.
« What? »
« She pretends that nothing bothers her, but it does. »
I gave Annie a little nudge with my elbow.
But Arthur didn’t seem upset.
He added, « Eleanor too. »
A doctor came in before anything else could be said.
She was a woman with black hair streaked with silver and a lively gaze.
« Caleb? Annie? »
We both got up.
« I am Helen Mercer. »
She shook our hands as if we were adults.
« Your sister will pull through. She needs rest, fluids, antibiotics, and at least a week without pretending she can work. »
« This last part is likely to be difficult, » I said.
Helen smiled.
« I understand that. »
Then she glanced at Arthur.
« And I have already informed Mr. Whitmore that paying someone’s medical expenses does not give him the right to organize the rest of their life. »
Arthur frowned.
« I offered my help. »
« You gave instructions. »
« These were practical instructions. »
Helen turned towards us.
« He never understood the difference. »
The way she spoke to him made the room less frightening.
« Can we see Grace now? » Annie asked.
« Yes. »
Grace looked tiny under the hospital blanket.
Her brown hair was loosely tied back, and there were dark circles under her eyes, but when we entered, she immediately straightened up.
« Where had you both gone? »
And there you have it.
Annie smiled.
« You’re crazy. »
« Of course I’m angry! »
Grace looked at Arthur.
Then it’s my turn.
Then back to Arthur.
« What happened? »
I told him.
Not right at the beginning.
Just the garden, the food, the ring.
Grace listened, covering her mouth with one hand.
When I had finished, she seemed unsure whether to hug us or lecture us.
Probably both.
« Did you walk all the way to Bellweather Avenue? »
« We were careful. »
« Caleb. »
« We needed food. »
Her eyes closed.
It was worse than being yelled at.
« I’m sorry, » she murmured.
« For what? »
« For allowing the situation to deteriorate to this point. »
« You were sick. »
« I’m supposed to take care of you. »
« You make. »
Her eyes filled with tears.
I hated seeing that.
So I said the first thing that came to mind.
« Arthur made us some soup. »
Grace opened her eyes.
« Arthur? »
Mr. Whitmore moved closer to the door.
Grace finally looked him straight in the eyes.
Their eyes met.
Something has changed in the room.
It was so small that Annie probably didn’t even notice it.
But I did it.
Grace knew him.
Or knew of its existence.
The color on her face had faded slightly.
Arthur noticed it too.
« Grace Foster, » he said.
She swallowed.
« Mr. Whitmore. »
I looked from one to the other.
« You know him. »
« No, » Grace replied too quickly.
Arthur’s jaw tightened.
Helen walked silently towards the door.
« I think, » she said, « I’ll give everyone a few minutes. »
But Grace stopped her.
« Please stay. »
Helen did it.
That told me more than Grace probably meant to say.
Arthur slowly approached the bed.
« I should have spoken to you years ago. »
Grace’s voice was tired but firm.
« There was nothing to say. »
“I disagree.”
« That doesn’t surprise me. »
I had never heard Grace speak to an adult like that.
Not impolite.
Just kept.
Arthur looked at Annie and me.
« You didn’t tell them anything. »
« No. »
« What did you tell us? » I asked.
Grace reached out her hand towards me.
« Caleb, you don’t have to worry about it today. »
This answer has never worked for me.
« This is about us. »
« That’s in the past. »
« Then why did he know our address? »
Grace froze.
She looked at Arthur.
« Did you tell them? »
« I didn’t tell them anything. »
« He knew before we did, » I said. « He sent Dr. Mercer to our apartment. »
Grace leaned back against the pillow.
For a moment, she seemed exhausted in a different way.
Not sick.
Cornered by something she hoped she would never have to explain.
Finally, she said, « Years ago, Dad worked for one of Mr. Whitmore’s companies. »
Arthur lowered his head slightly.
« He headed a regional freight division. »
That surprised me.
I remembered almost nothing about Dad’s work.
In my memories, he smelled of coffee and aftershave and would come home after dark.
« Was Dad friends with you? » Annie asked.
Arthur’s expression became more complicated.
« No. »
Grace was the one who answered.
« Dad admired him. »
Arthur flinched at these words.
« More than he should have, » Grace added.
I waited.
No one continued.
« What happened? »
Grace looked at me.
« There was an accident involving one of the company’s trucks. »
I had a knot in my stomach.
Our parents had died in a road accident six years earlier.
I knew it.
A rainy night.
A bad turn.
A collision.
The adults always changed the subject when I asked for details.
« Was Dad driving? » I asked.
« No, » Grace replied quickly. « It wasn’t the accident that killed Mom and Dad. »
I’ve exhaled.
« That was before. Dad was managing the depot when a serious mechanical problem was discovered on several vehicles. »
Arthur spoke in a low voice.
« He reported it. »
Grace looked at him.
« Eventually. »
Arthur accepted the correction.
« Yes. »
« Dad thought the company would blame him, » Grace continued. « There were arguments. Lawyers. Investigations. He lost his job. »
I stared at Arthur.
« Did you send him back? »
Arthur did not look away.
« Yes. »
« For what? »
« Because at the time, I believed he had concealed maintenance reports. »
« Did he do it? »
Grace replied.
« Not exactly. »
That phrase again.
Not exactly.
Arthur clasped his hands on his cane.
« Your father delayed submitting several reports because he was trying to resolve the issue within his division before senior management was aware of it. This was a very poor decision. But years later, I learned that he had also repeatedly requested funding for repairs, which was denied by his superiors. »
« By you? »
« No. »
« Your company. »
« Yes. »
The way Arthur said it clearly showed that this difference did not comfort him.
Grace looked towards the window.
« Dad never really got over losing that job. »
Then I remembered something.
Dad sat at the kitchen table late at night, envelopes scattered around him.
Mom rubs his shoulder.
Grace whispered to me to go back to bed.
Arthur continued.
« After your parents passed away, I learned that Grace had become your guardian. »
« You followed our trail? »
« From a distance. »
« For what? »
He looked at Grace.
« Because I owed your father an apology. »
Grace’s fingers tightened around mine.
« No. »
Arthur’s expression softened.
“I did it.”
« You’ve already sent the letter. »
« Which letter? » I asked.
Grace closed her eyes.
I turned to Arthur.
« Which letter? »
Arthur seemed surprised.
« Three years after your parents’ death, I wrote to Grace. I offered to take over the household expenses and set up educational funds for you and Annie. »
I watched Grace.
She avoided meeting my gaze.
« You never told us that. »
« You were eight years old, » she said. « Annie was five. »
« What did you say? »
Grace took a breath.
« I said no. »
Annie blinked.
« For money? »
« Yes. »
« For what? »
Grace looked at Arthur.
« Because we didn’t know him. »
« That wasn’t the only reason, » Arthur said.
Grace’s gaze sharpened.
« Don’t do it. »
But he stopped.
For the first time since they met, Arthur obeyed without question.
Helen broke the silence.
« Grace needs rest. »
« I want to know, » I said.
Grace shook my hand.
« And you will. But not tonight. »
Arthur reached into his pocket and placed a card on the bedside table.
« My number. »
Grace let out a tired laugh.
« Do you think I lost the previous four? »
« Do you still have them? »
She seemed annoyed with herself for having revealed this.
Arthur’s face softened.
“Yes,” she admitted. “I still have them.”
That disturbed me almost as much as everything else.
If Grace wanted nothing to do with Arthur, why had she kept her cards?
Arthur left shortly afterwards.
But before that, he leaned towards Annie and me.
« The garden remains unfinished. »
I thought he was joking.
« Do you still want us to work? »
« When your sister is healed, and only if she agrees. »
« To eat? »
Her mouth twitched.
« We will negotiate. »
The next day, Grace kept us at the house.
Not because she wanted to.
Helen insisted.
Grace returned to our apartment that afternoon and spent most of the day sleeping.
Someone delivered the groceries.
Grace knew immediately who had sent them.
She called Arthur and forced him to take back half of what he was owed.
He argued his case.
She won.
That impressed me.
The following week, Grace recovered while Annie and I watched over her like wary nurses.
Every morning, Helen called.
Every afternoon, food appeared out of nowhere.
Sometimes it came from Mrs. Alvarez, Arthur’s housekeeper, who claimed to have « accidentally overcooked ».
Grace never believed her.
Me neither.
But she stopped sending him back.
On Saturday, Grace finally allowed us to return to Arthur’s garden.
She came with us.
« I’m supervising. »
« You’re supposed to be resting, » I said.
« I can supervise the seated position. »
Arthur had placed a chair under the maple tree before our arrival.
Grace stared at him.
« He knew you were coming, » said Annie.
Grace muttered something about difficult old men.
Arthur appeared on the porch.
« You’re late. »
« It’s nine o’clock. »
« You said nine. »
« It is exactly nine o’clock. »
His gaze fell upon the chair.
Grace noticed it.
« So you admit that you were waiting for me? »
« I understand probabilities. »
Grace almost cracked a smile.
Almost.
We worked for three hours.
Arthur paid us in food, as originally agreed, but the « leftovers » included fresh bread, vegetables, milk, eggs, and enough chicken for several dinners.
Grace objected.
Arthur claimed that his refrigerator was too small.
His refrigerator could have held ours twice over.
But Grace gave up.
Something had changed between them.
Do not trust.
Not yet.
Rather a temporary ceasefire.
Over the following weeks, we returned every Saturday.
The garden slowly emerged from neglect.
The stone paths reappeared.
The flowerbeds have reached their limits.
Annie discovered small metal tags identifying the plants that Eleanor had chosen years before.
Arthur remembered almost everyone.
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