“I’m so sorry I couldn’t keep my promise.”
Toby touched my shoulder. “Grandma, maybe he just couldn’t let it go.”
I nodded. “He carried a lot I never knew.”
Paul’s voice was soft. “He never forgot.”
“Then I’ll see it’s laid to rest properly,” I said.
I looked around at my family. Ruth twisting her own ring, Toby trying to look brave
“I should have known your grandfather still had surprises left in him,” I managed, smiling through tears.
Paul stepped forward, placing a gentle hand on mine. “He loved you, Edith. Never doubted it.”
I met his eyes. “After seventy-two years, Paul, I would hope so.”
“He carried a lot I never knew.”
***
That night, after everyone had gone, I sat alone in the kitchen with the box in my lap. Walter’s mug was still in the dish rack. His cardigan hung on the hook by the pantry door, right where he’d left it the week before he died.
