PART 7
The following year changed all of us.
Graham and Paige found a smaller house they could actually afford.
They sold two cars.
Cut unnecessary expenses.
Stopped treating credit cards like free money.
And, slowly, they rebuilt their lives.
Graham began visiting me every Sunday.
Sometimes he brought groceries.
Sometimes he brought nothing.
Those were my favorite visits.
Because he finally learned that he didn’t need to arrive carrying something to prove that he loved me.
He simply came.
The grandchildren started visiting too.
The first time they came to my cottage, Owen stood in the yellow kitchen and looked around.
“Grandma, this is your house?”
“Yes.”
“Did you buy it?”
“Yes.”
“With your lottery money?”
I laughed.
“Your father told you?”
He shrugged.
“Dad tells us everything now.”
I looked at Graham.
He smiled.
“I figured honesty was overdue.”
I smiled back.
Then Owen asked:
“Can we plant something?”
I pointed toward the garden.
“Pick a spot.”
Within minutes, the children were outside digging holes.
The cottage filled with laughter.
Real laughter.
Not the kind that came when someone mocked another person.
The kind that came when people felt safe.
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