Chapter 8 - "We Have a Couch"
The settlement came through eight weeks later — the house in my name, and most of the money Renata's team could trace clawed back into an account with my name on it instead of his. I read every page twice before I signed, while Walter watched from the window like he needed to see it happen with his own eyes.
"You've changed," he said when I finally set the pen down.
"No," I said. "I learned."
The first night Poppy and I slept in the house again, Walter showed up, standing in almost the exact spot where I'd first found him under the tree. Like he still wasn't sure he was allowed any farther than that.
"Who is he, really?" Poppy asked, watching him through the screen door.
"Your grandfather."
She considered that for a moment. Then she pushed the door open herself.
May you like
"Come inside," she said. "We have a couch."
Walter looked at me, and stepped through the door he'd once left a folded blanket in front of instead of walking through.
