“You agreed.”
“Exactly.”
He smiled.
“We treated him like someone with nowhere else to go.”
“Then he bought the house across the street in cash.”
The room exploded with laughter.
I shook my head.
Ethan looked at me.
“I deserved that.”
Then his voice changed.
“But the embarrassing part isn’t that we didn’t know he had money.”
“It’s that we should have treated him well even if he didn’t.”
Silence.
That sentence made my throat tighten.
He continued.
“Dad taught me that respect isn’t a reward for success.”
“It should come before you know someone’s balance sheet.”
Then he raised his glass.
“To Walter.”
“Retired grocer.”
“Pie maker.”
“Terrible secret keeper.”
“And my dad.”
I stood.
We hugged.
Longer than usual.
Mary should have been there.
Maybe she was in whatever way people stay after leaving.
I like to think so.
Years later, Emma asked me about the original house rules.
