Chapter 28 - WHAT LIAM INHERITED
Nora left Liam almost nothing financially.
A small apartment.
A few thousand dollars.
Plants he constantly forgot to water.
And a letter.
Dear Liam,
If you are reading this, I finally managed to leave before telling you another secret.
He laughed through his tears.
Nora wrote that motherhood had been the greatest privilege of her life.
She never viewed Liam as Lydia’s burden.
He had been Lydia’s gift.
Inside the envelope was one final item.
The original silver necklace.
Liam had stopped wearing it every day years earlier.
Nora had repaired the damaged clasp.
On the reverse side she had added a tiny engraving.
L.M.R.H.
Lydia Moore.
Robert Hale.
Reed.
Hale.
Every name that had shaped him.
Liam put the necklace on.
Robert noticed it at dinner.
“Nora fixed it?”
“Yes.”
Liam showed him the engraving.
Robert stared.
Then smiled.
“She understood you better than any of us.”
“She had a head start.”
“Eighteen years.”
“Exactly.”
Robert raised his glass.
“To Nora.”
Sarah did the same.
Olivia followed.
Liam looked at the empty chair they had begun keeping flowers beside.
“To both my mothers.”
Four glasses touched.
The sound reminded Robert of another family dinner long ago.
May you like
But this one carried no secret.
Only memory.
