Chapter 17 - TAKING OUR HOUSE BACK
The divorce settlement took months.
Rachel didn't return to the house.
Brad's belongings were removed.
The stolen documents were eventually returned.
The memorial fundraiser money that investigators recovered was placed into a restitution process.
I refused to keep donations intended for a death that never happened.
Whenever possible, the money went back to the people who had given it.
Some donors refused refunds.
They asked that their money be placed in a fund for Lily.
I agreed only after Katherine arranged everything properly.
No secrets.
No cash envelopes.
No lies.
The first room I changed was the bedroom.
I repainted it.
New sheets.
New furniture.
Nothing Brad had touched remained.
Then Lily asked if we could change the backyard.
That surprised me.
"What do you want?"
"A garden."
So we built one.
Right over the place where I had found her.
We dug out the damaged ground.
Added fresh soil.
Planted lavender.
Sunflowers.
Tomatoes.
Lily chose a small wooden sign.
BUSTER'S GARDEN.
She painted it herself.
The letters were crooked.
It was perfect.
One afternoon, while we worked, Lily stopped near the shed.
"Daddy?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you remember when I slept here?"
My hands froze.
"I remember."
She looked down.
"I thought Buster was going to turn into a ghost too."
I sat beside her.
"Why?"
"Because Mommy said everybody I loved could go away."
I put down the shovel.
"Lily."
She looked at me.
"People can leave."
I said.
"People can make mistakes."
"Sometimes things happen that we can't control."
"But nobody gets to scare you into believing love means disappearing."
She thought about that.
"Even Mommy?"
"Even Mommy."
Lily nodded.
Then she hugged Buster.
I wondered whether she would ever trust Rachel again.
That wasn't my decision.
It wasn't Rachel's either.
It was Lily's.
And for once, every adult in her life would have to respect what she needed.
That night, I found something beneath my pillow.
A drawing.
Three figures.
Me.
Lily.
Buster.
We stood beside giant yellow flowers.
Above us Lily had drawn a blue sky.
There were no graves.
No ghosts.
May you like
No black boxes beneath the ground.
Only home.
