Chapter 13 - Charles's Garden
Ryan inherited a small property in Maine from Uncle David.
Behind the cottage was an overgrown garden Charles had helped plant decades earlier.
Ryan took Maya and Oliver there.
Oliver ran through the grass.
Maya sat beneath an apple tree.
Ryan found an old wooden bench.
Carved underneath were initials.
C.W. + R.W.
Charles Whitmore.
Ryan Whitmore.
Ryan remembered.
His father had brought him there once.
He had forgotten.
Or Evelyn's version of childhood had buried it.
Ryan sat down and cried.
Oliver climbed beside him.
“Daddy sad?”
“A little.”
“Why?”
“I miss my dad.”
Oliver thought carefully.
Then handed him a yellow leaf.
“For your dad.”
Ryan laughed through tears.
“Thank you.”
He kept the leaf.
Pressed it inside Charles's journal.
May you like
Not every inheritance was money.
Some were memories returned after decades of lies.
