Chapter 6 - What Pride Had Cost ThemVanessa read the old records until midnight.
Samuel Stone appeared repeatedly.
Five dollars.
Ten dollars.
Sometimes nothing for months.
Then twenty.
He had donated even while his own family struggled.
Vanessa felt sick.
She remembered resenting him for refusing help.
She remembered classmates going on vacations while her family stayed home.
She remembered promising herself she would become everything he wasn't.
Successful.
Respected.
Important.
"I thought he was ashamed," Vanessa whispered.
Margaret nodded.
"He was."
Vanessa looked up.
Margaret continued.
"People can be good and complicated at the same time."
"He let pride hurt us."
"Yes."
Vanessa stared at the ledger.
"Like me."
"Yes."
Vanessa almost laughed.
"You don't soften anything."
"I'm seventy-two. I've earned efficiency."
For the first time that evening, Vanessa smiled.
Then she found a photograph.
Samuel stood beside Thomas at a base picnic.
Vanessa had never seen it.
Her father looked young.
Alive.
Happy.
On the back, Thomas had written:
SAM — STUBBORNEST MAN IN THE ARMY.
Vanessa pressed a hand against her mouth.
May you like
Margaret quietly left the room.
She understood that some grief needed privacy.
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