Chapter 6 - The Sunrise Frank Never Saw
We boarded the sailboat before dawn.
Daniel came with me.
The ocean was dark blue beneath a fading night sky.
For a long time, we didn't talk.
Then the sun appeared.
Gold spread across the horizon.
I reached into my purse and removed something I had carried for twenty-one years.
Frank's old wedding ring.
Daniel stared.
“You brought Dad's ring?”
“I take it everywhere.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm sentimental and ridiculous.”
“You're definitely sentimental.”
I nudged him.
“Watch it.”
When the boat reached calmer water, I held the ring tightly.
I wasn't going to throw it away.
Some things aren't meant to be released.
They're meant to be carried differently.
“I wish you could see this, Frank,” I whispered.
Daniel put his arm around me.
Then he started crying.
My grown son.
Successful.
Married.
A father.
Still my boy.
“I miss him,” Daniel said.
“So do I.”
“I barely remember his voice.”
“I do.”
“What did he sound like?”
I smiled.
“Like you.”
Daniel looked at me.
And somehow that was enough.
When we returned, Macy and the children were waiting on the beach.
Nobody demanded anything.
Sophie handed me a seashell.
“For Grandpa Frank.”
I couldn't speak.
I hugged her.
We buried the shell at the edge of a sandcastle.
That afternoon became the happiest of the trip.
Macy played with her children.
Daniel buried Caleb in sand.
I read half my novel.
Oliver fell asleep against my shoulder because I wanted him there.
Nobody owed anyone.
That evening, Macy approached me.
“I called my father.”
I looked up.
“How did that go?”
“Badly.”
She laughed.
“Then maybe well.”
“What happened?”
“I told him I wasn't keeping score anymore.”
“And?”
“He reminded me how much my wedding cost.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Of course he did.”
Macy laughed again.
Then her expression changed.
“I told him paying for my wedding didn't buy control over the rest of my life.”
I smiled.
“That must've been difficult.”
“It was.”
She sat beside me.
“But I think I finally understand what Daniel was defending.”
“What?”
“Not your vacation.”
She looked toward my son.
“Your dignity.”
That night, I thought the worst was behind us.
Then Daniel received a phone call.
His face changed.
He walked away from the table.
Macy noticed.
“What is it?”
He returned several minutes later.
“It's work.”
But I knew my son.
He was lying.
Later, I found him alone outside.
“What's wrong?”
He hesitated.
Then he handed me his phone.
An email was open.
The subject line made my stomach tighten.
URGENT: Financial irregularities detected.
May you like
And the name attached to the questionable account belonged to someone in our family.
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