Chapter 11 - FIVE YEARS LATERFive years passed.
Chicago changed.
So did Claire.
She was no longer the exhausted widow counting dollars beneath a flickering kitchen light.
She was now the director of the Daniel Bennett Family Resource Center.
Ethan was five.
He had Daniel's smile.
Sometimes that still hurt.
But now it also comforted her.
At Christmas, Ethan handed Claire a paper ornament.
Three figures stood beneath a crooked red star.
"Who's this?" Claire asked.
"Me."
"And me?"
"You."
"And this?"
"Luca."
"And these?"
"Grandpa Arthur and Grandma Margaret."
Claire smiled.
Across the room, Arthur pretended not to listen.
At eighty-seven, he still complained about everything.
May you like
Margaret claimed complaining kept him alive.
She was probably right.
Related Stories
Chapter 12 - THE LIFE LUCA BUILTLuca had changed too.
Chapter 13 - THE WEDDINGClaire and Luca waited three years before marrying.
Chapter 14 - THE HOUSE BY THE PARKThey moved into a brick house near Lincoln Park.
Chapter 15 - THE WOMAN AT THE DOOROne winter afternoon, a pregnant woman entered the family center.
Chapter 16 - WHAT DANIEL LEFT HERThat night, Claire opened an old box.
Chapter 17 - THE LAST PIECE OF THE PASTArthur's final legal obligations were completed.
