Marcus apologized for contacting me after Daniel’s death only when money
became relevant.
I did not forgive everything in one afternoon.
But we stopped pretending.
That mattered.
He later donated a small amount to the companionship program.
Anonymous.
Albert somehow found out.
“Nothing is anonymous if you know the receptionist.”
“You interrogated her?”
“I charmed her.”
“You are a menace.”
“Yet you almost married me.”
“I absolutely did not.”
“There were witnesses.”
The story of Albert’s proposal became legend at Willow Creek.
New residents heard about it.
The details grew every year.
Eventually someone claimed he proposed with a five-carat diamond.
Albert never corrected them.
PART 23
On his ninety-first birthday, we held a party.
He wore a suit.
I brought a chessboard-shaped cake.
He complained that the pieces were arranged incorrectly.
Halfway through the party, he tapped his glass.
Everyone went quiet.
“I have an announcement.”
I groaned.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Claire, I have reconsidered.”
The room erupted before he finished.
He laughed.
“I am withdrawing my marriage proposal.”
Applause.
I placed a hand over my heart.
“I’m devastated.”
“You had two years.”
“I needed more time.”
“Women.”
Everyone laughed.
Then Albert raised his glass.
“To second lives.”
The room became quiet again.
PART 24
“To the lives we think are over,” he continued, “and the annoying people
who prove otherwise.”
He looked at me.
I cried.
Later, while we sat alone, I asked:
“Why me, really?”
He knew what I meant.
Not Daniel’s documents.
Not the trust.
Why had he chosen me to carry this strange responsibility?
Albert considered.
“Because the first day you came here, you sat with Evelyn Porter for
forty minutes while she told you the same story four times.”
I remembered Evelyn.
“She had dementia.”
“Yes.”
“You noticed she became happy every time she reached the ending.”
I looked down.
Albert said:
“You listened like the story was new each time.”
PART 25
“That’s why?”
“That’s when I knew what kind of person you were.”
I shook my head.
“You barely knew me.”
“Old people become efficient.”
Then:
“Daniel chose you too.”
My eyes filled.
“Not for the money. Not for paperwork. He chose you for his life.”
Albert touched my hand.
“Don’t let the way he died make you forget the way he lived.”
That sentence stayed with me longer than anything in the safe-deposit
box.
PART 26
