I thought about the black SUV.
“He had money?”
“He always had money. He just fought Mom about helping us. By the time the court finally ordered child support, we’d already packed everything.”
Chase swallowed.
“I used to ride my bike past here after we moved. Then I saw the For Sale sign. When you finally bought the place, I thought…”
He looked toward the backyard.
“…if I couldn’t live here anymore, maybe I could still take care of it.”
“You didn’t actually need a mowing job.”
He shook his head.
“That wasn’t the real reason.”
“What were you looking for?”
His answer came quietly.
“Home.”
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then I asked about the day I’d caught him inside the garage.
“I wasn’t stealing anything,” he said quickly. “I just sat at Grandpa’s workbench. I remembered where his tools used to hang and where our bikes stood. When I walked up that afternoon and found the garage open…”
