rvin did was bloc

detached efficiency he used to file household receip

the Romero family. Kallie. The cousins. The family friends. He left only El

through from an unknown

s kissing her cheek. Jorja was smiling, her eyes closed in bliss. Th

f course. A final, pe

he perfect sunset. He felt a faint tremor in his chest, a

ped a

g nu

picture and blo

Buck, the woman who ran the orphanage where he gr

ld books and lemon tea in the air. He told her everythi

r face growing tigh

ury. "They used you, Arvin. Elizebeth used your

Arvin said. "She just

?" Goldie asked gentl

ment is up." He had checked. Th

fighting for you. I told the foundation what happened. They were... sympath

Paris. It wasn't a ghost.

, he dream

d a terrible flu. He had stayed by her bed for three days, changing her col

oked at him, her eyes clear. She

e whispered. "You take

ion of her touch still on his cheek. Th

small moments of tenderness, the glimpses of a life that could have been. It was the givin

bottom drawer. They were routine business papers for the Romero estate holdings, thing

he stack. It was a single page. A petition for

orner of the desk where she

Cale, she was in a foul mood. She swept in

rt supplies on a hallway table, waiting

dging it with her foot. "Get rid o

. His future.

," Arvi

e saw no value in him, in his life, in his

done bein