“He didn’t give you his money because of errands,” Maya said.

“He loved us.”

It was such a simple observation that I had overlooked it while worrying about how the inheritance looked from the outside.

That weekend, Elise suggested we invite a few neighbors over to share memories and photographs, without mentioning the money.

Mrs.

Alvarez brought a stack of handwritten recipes.

A retired mail carrier named George remembered Arthur greeting him with cold water in August.

A woman from the next block described how Evelyn had helped her when her husband was hospitalized.