Avery had lived to meet the twins as teenagers, and that we still spoke of her whenever we cooked stew.

Most of all, I told him that I had not given him ten dollars because I expected the universe to return it with interest.

I had given it because I knew what it meant to be unseen.

I folded the letter and placed it in the box beside his.

It felt like the end of one conversation and the beginning of another.

PART 12: The Father Who Called