“We never had another child. There were nieces and nephews, of course, and some neighbors who felt like family.”
Then she looked toward the empty living room.
“But people move away. They have lives.”
She swallowed.
“And eventually the house gets very quiet.”
Bear looked toward the picture of Samuel.
Something about the boy's smile reminded him of Thomas.
Then he turned toward Ruth.
“You weren't asking us to pretend because you wanted to fool the company.”
She shook her head.
“I suppose I wanted somebody to stand beside me and say, ‘That's my mother. You need to talk to us too.’”
Her eyes filled.
“Just once.”
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Bear reached gently for her hand.
“Mrs. Miller, I can't replace your boy.”
Ruth began crying.
“I know.”
He squeezed her fingers.
“But I'd be honored to stand beside you.”
She held his hand tightly.
Then she whispered, “Thank you, Caleb.”
Bear looked toward the photograph of Thomas.
And for a moment, the years between Vietnam and that little blue house seemed to disappear.
At three twenty-seven, a black SUV turned onto Willow Creek Road.
Tucker noticed it first.
He was standing near the front fence, speaking quietly with Dean about the condition of the porch steps, when the vehicle slowed outside the property.
Its windows were tinted.
A silver company emblem decorated the driver's door.
Behind it came a white cargo van.
Both vehicles stopped along the road.
Tucker glanced toward the house.
“Bear.”
The older biker appeared on the porch.
He looked toward the vehicles.
Then reached for his phone.
“Everybody stay calm.”
Dean nodded.
Luke came outside with Ruth.
She was gripping her walker so tightly that the skin across her knuckles had turned pale.
Bear turned toward her.
“You don't have to come out.”
She shook her head.
“It's my house.”
He studied her for a moment.
Then nodded.
“That's right.”
He stood beside her.
Luke moved to her other side.
The black SUV's driver's door opened.
A tall white man in his mid-forties stepped out wearing a light gray suit, polished brown shoes, and an expression of practiced confidence.
His hair was perfectly styled.
A leather document case hung from one hand.
Another man emerged from the passenger side.
Two workers climbed out of the van.
One carried a toolbox.