Chapter 7 - THE LETTERS
When we got back to the penthouse, the city was asleep.
I sat at the kitchen island, a cup of hot tea resting between my hands. The blue tin sat closed in front of me.
Daniel was in his study, taking a late-night conference call, leaving Robert and me alone in the dim glow of the under-cabinet lights.
Robert reached out and gently traced the rusted edge of the tin with his index finger.
"I thought about these letters every day," he confessed quietly. "When I was living in a motel in Detroit, working under the table for cash, I used to close my eyes and try to recite them from memory."
I looked at him. The gray hair, the deep lines around his mouth, the exhaustion that seemed permanently settled in his bones.
"Open it," I whispered.
Robert pried the lid off. Inside, perfectly preserved, were stacks of yellowing envelopes bound in faded pink ribbon.
He picked up the top envelope. The ink was faded, but I could still read his handwriting. To Maggie. The girl with the brightest eyes in Chicago.
Robert smiled, a sad, nostalgic curve of his lips. He pulled the letter from the envelope and unfolded it carefully.
"My dearest Maggie," Robert read aloud, his voice thick with emotion. "I know I don't have much to offer you right now. Just a toolbelt and a promise. But if you say yes tomorrow, I swear to spend the rest of my life making sure you and our children never have to worry about the roof over your heads."
A tear slipped down my cheek.
"I broke that promise," Robert whispered, lowering the letter. "I left you to worry about everything. You lost your home. You lost your dignity. Because of me."
"No," I said fiercely, reaching across the marble counter and taking his hands in mine. "Because of Richard Ashford. You kept the most important promise, Robert. You kept us safe. You sacrificed your own life so Daniel and I could live ours."
Robert looked down at our joined hands. "But you suffered, Maggie. I saw you one day. About five years ago. I took a bus into the city on Daniel's birthday, just to walk past the apartment. I saw you carrying groceries in the snow. Your coat was so thin. It took every ounce of strength I had not to run across the street and take the bags from you."
I squeezed his fingers. "Why didn't you?"
"Because Thomas had called me the week before. He told me Richard was having Daniel followed. If I showed my face, Richard would have arranged an 'accident' for our son. I couldn't risk it."
I stood up, walked around the kitchen island, and stood in front of him.
"Look at me, Robert," I said.
He lifted his head, his brown eyes shining with unshed tears.
"We are not going to spend the rest of our lives crying over the years they stole from us," I told him, my voice steady and resolute. "Richard Ashford is in a cage. Victoria is in a cage. They have nothing. And we have everything."
Robert stood up, leaning his cane against the counter. He reached out and gently cupped my face in his rough, calloused hands.
"You are the strongest woman I have ever known, Maggie Wilson," he whispered.
And for the first time in twenty-six years, my husband leaned in and kissed me.
It wasn't a tentative kiss. It was filled with a quarter-century of longing, grief, and absolute, enduring love. I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding onto him as if he might disappear again if I let go.
When we finally pulled apart, we were both crying, but for the first time, they were tears of profound, overwhelming joy.
"Hey," a voice said softly.
We turned. Daniel was standing in the hallway, leaning against the doorframe, a massive grin on his face.
"I don't mean to interrupt," Daniel chuckled, wiping his own eyes. "But I just got off the phone with the foundation."
I wiped my cheeks. "What foundation, sweetheart?"
Daniel walked into the kitchen. "The Margaret Wilson Foundation. I set it up this morning. We're taking ten percent of the Ashford land buyout and using it to build transition housing and job training centers for the homeless in Chicago. Starting with the shelter where you stayed, Mom."
I covered my mouth, completely overwhelmed.
"And," Daniel added, pulling a set of silver keys from his pocket, "I made another purchase this afternoon. I think you guys should come see it tomorrow."
He tossed the keys onto the counter next to the blue tin.
May you like
"What did you buy, Daniel?" Robert asked, picking up the keys.
Daniel's smile softened. "I made a promise to Mom a long time ago. Before I got distracted by the money, and the company, and Victoria. It's time I kept it."
