Chapter 45 — A Summer Letter
A letter from Ruth Maddox arrived in July, written on stationery decorated with small yellow flowers.
She thanked Daniel for helping arrange the document copies and included a photograph of Jonah holding a wooden birdhouse he had made for her garden.
The siblings had begun visiting each other again after years of distance that neither could fully explain.
Ruth wrote that they were discovering they remembered different parts of their childhood, and both versions could exist without one erasing the other.
She said Miriam’s notebook had prompted them to contact an old teacher who once let them stay after school until their ride arrived.
The teacher remembered their names and asked whether they had found safe homes.
Ruth had cried during the call because she had spent most of her life assuming adults forgot her as soon as she left their care.
Daniel read the letter to Owen over breakfast.
Owen asked why Ruth wanted them to know these details.
Daniel said perhaps she wanted their family to understand that the investigation had consequences beyond courtrooms and financial records.
The next week Celeste Rowan sent a postcard showing a lakeshore in Michigan.
She wrote that she had traveled with her granddaughter and finally visited a place she remembered from a childhood choir tour.
For years the memory had frightened her because she associated it with adults ordering children to smile for donors.
This time she went by choice, bought ice cream, and watched the water until sunset.
Daniel placed the postcard beside Ruth’s letter in a folder labeled New Memories.
He liked the title because it did not imply that the past had been erased.
One afternoon he took Owen to a local baseball game and let his phone remain in his pocket for the entire afternoon.
He missed a call from Simon and returned it later.
Simon merely wanted to ask whether Nora would like another visit from an old choir friend.
Daniel smiled and told him to ask Nora directly.
The answer surprised Simon, who had grown used to Daniel arranging everything.
Daniel explained that Nora was perfectly capable of making her own plans.
They laughed, and the conversation ended without any new revelation.
Daniel felt grateful for that ordinary ending.
Chapter 46 — The House With the Blue Mailbox
Nora’s niece brought her children to Alder Glen for a weekend visit in late summer.
The children were fascinated by the brown terrier, the birdhouses, and the plain blue mailbox beside the porch.
