Harold leaned against the workbench.
“She knows enough. Said you returned a wallet full of cash without even counting it. And you still sit on the edge of the chair every time she offers coffee.” He smiled faintly. “Funny thing is, people who are after money usually act entitled to it.”
I looked down at the check in my hands.
“I’ve got a delivery position open,” Harold continued. “Steady work. A little less pay than driving Mrs. Whitmore around, but weekends are off.”
I looked up so fast my neck cracked.
“You serious?”
“Dead serious.”
“She knows enough.”
I laughed then, the kind of laugh that comes out when your body doesn’t know whether to cry anymore.
“Yeah,” I whispered. “Yeah, I am interested.”
Three days later, just after sunset, I slipped through Mrs. Whitmore’s back garden gate
She sat waiting beside the roses with a blanket folded across her lap.
“You came,” she said softly.
I nodded. She’d called me the same day after firing me, asking that I come over three days later with specific instructions on how to enter and avoid being noticed.
“Yeah, I am interested.”
I handed her the brooch.
“You shouldn’t have had to humiliate yourself for me.”
She smiled sadly.
“You didn’t have to bring that. Keep it; sell it. It’s the least I could do after what I put you through.”
I was shocked! That brooch definitely cost a couple of thousand dollars, if not more!
Mrs. Whitmore continued, “Bradley needed a performance. Now he believes I finally listened to him. He will leave you alone. The brooch disappearing was just my way of ensuring he couldn’t find any loopholes in my story.”
I sat beside her quietly for a moment.
“You didn’t have to bring that.”
“When I wrote the note the night before you came, I was very anxious while trying to hide everything in the glove compartment. I thought getting it back would be wise, but I didn’t anticipate that Bradley would actually search for it for several days. I think he doubts my story. So, it’s best if the brooch remains gone.”
I nodded.
“You gave me peace, Stan,” she said. “More than you realize.”
“No,” I replied. “You gave it to me.”
She squeezed my hand gently.
“Your work is done here. Go home to your family.”
“You gave me peace.”
“But I can’t leave you like this with your children lurking around like sharks,” I protested.
“Don’t worry about me. It’s taken some time, but after this incident, Harold finally convinced me to fight back. He helped me secure a new lawyer. I’ve told him everything that’s been happening, and we are in the process of ensuring my estate is safe. Soon enough, my children will know their place once and for all.”
I smiled. Mrs. Whitmore was going to be okay.
“Don’t worry about me.”
***
That night, I drove home with groceries in the back seat, Lily’s fixed glasses beside me, and still more than enough money in my pocket to catch up on the electricity bill and finally breathe for the first time in months.
As I entered the house and my children rushed up to me, while my neighbor smiled as she got up to leave after babysitting, I realized something.
I drove home with groceries.
I used to think pride meant never needing help.
Turns out pride means knowing who you are, even when life bends you sideways.
