Every dollar.
Every treatment.
Every sacrifice.
If Lily survived, it was worth it.
If—
No.
Cole was right.
Love could not be evaluated afterward like an investment.
Rachel sat on the porch step.
For the first time all day, exhaustion showed completely.
Cole did not sit beside her.
He remained standing.
Rachel looked toward Lily.
The child was showing two bikers how to pour lemonade “correctly.”
Both enormous men obeyed.
Rachel smiled.
“What happens to the rest of the money?”
Cole answered:
“We set up Megan’s fund.”
“You already did?”
“Paperwork filed last week.”
“What’s it called?”
He hesitated.
Rachel smiled faintly.
“What?”
“Megan would kill me.”
“Why?”
“I named it after her.”
Rachel laughed.
“What did she want it called?”
Cole pulled out the notebook page.
Near the bottom, Megan had written:
Call it something normal. Please do not put my face on a T-shirt, Dad.
Rachel laughed harder.
Cole looked embarrassed.
“We may have shirts.”
“Cole.”
“The guys ordered them.”
One biker shouted from the driveway:
“They look great!”
Cole yelled back:
“She specifically said no shirts!”
The biker shrugged.
“Too late!”
Lily ran over.
“I want one.”
Cole pointed toward the biker.
“See what you've done?”
Rachel was still laughing when Cole’s phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
His expression changed.
“Excuse me.”
He walked toward the curb.
Rachel watched him.
His shoulders, so enormous from behind, suddenly looked tired.
Old.
Grief did that.
Made age appear unexpectedly.
Lily climbed onto the porch step beside her mother.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Was Megan his kid?”
“Yes.”
“She died?”
Rachel nodded.
Lily thought.
“Like maybe me?”
Rachel’s entire body tightened.
“No.”
Too fast.
Lily looked at her.
Rachel corrected herself.
“You're sick.”
“The doctors are helping.”
“I know.”
“But people die from it.”
Rachel could not lie.
She had promised herself she would never lie about illness.
Simplify.
Protect.
But not lie.
“Yes.”
Lily stared toward Cole.
“Was he there?”
“When Megan died?”
“Yes.”
“I think so.”
Lily looked down.
“Was she scared?”
Rachel did not know.
Before she could answer, Cole returned.
He had heard.
He stopped.
Lily looked up.
“Was Megan scared?”
Cole stood silently.
Then crouched.
“Yes.”
Rachel held her breath.
Cole continued.