Emma reaches for her brother. “If you need any help with Grandpa, let us know.” Mateo quirks an eyebrow at her, and shelaughs. “What? That’s what he is to you, right?” she questions him, and Mateo nods.
“Yes, I suppose he is. It’s just weird, you know?”
I speak up. “If you need anything, any one of us will be there to help.” I grab Evie’s hand, and Mateo tracks the motion.
“Nah, I’m good, but thanks for the offer. I think you all need some alone time.”
Emma’s face flushes red, and Eduardo laughs. Mateo pushes two envelopes toward Emma and Evie. “Ramón gave me these at the hospital today. One is for you, and the other is for me.”
Evie drops my hand and reaches for them. “Do you not want to open yours?”
I look at her and think about the way she worded that. It’s almost as if she knows he doesn’t, but I wonder to myself why.
He shakes his head. “No, it’s from your mom.”
Emma cringes at his phrasing. Although she wasn’t much of one, she is his mother, too.
“Do you want us to open them, Mateo?” She reaches for the envelopes and picks up one manilla envelope, sizing it up its weight in her hand. “This one seems heavy.”
She rips the envelope and empties the contents on the kitchen countertop. The metal object bounces with a loud clatter as it hits the granite.
“What the…” Evie trails off as Emma’s hands go to touch the slightly damaged ring.
“Oh, wow!” Emma exclaims.
“It’s the ring you got me for my birthday.” Evie jumps up off the barstool. She picks up the ring and turns it around, studying the object. “This ring saved me.”
Mateo reaches for it, and Evie hands it over to him.
“Yeah, it did. Ramón told me that was how they knew it was you in the morgue where they had to identify the bodies.Nothing was recognizable, but they sure did recognize your ring,” Evie huffs out.
“What assholes,” Emma chimes in.
“You made me leave it there that night, Mattie.”
His gaze is far away, as if relieving the night her parents died and she pretended to be dead. “Yes, I did,” Mateo confirms. “Ramón took it off of that poor woman they thought was you and kept it for you. I don’t know why he did it, but he said to give it to you. It might help you find the closure you need.”
Emma and Evie exchange a look and then glance over at the other package.
“You knew what was in it?”
He nods, but Emma continues. “So what’s in the other package?” she asks, and Mateo stares out the window, looking at the waves rolling onto the shore.
“More closure,” he says softly, as if to himself.
Chapter Forty
EVIE
“Mary on a Cross” by Ghost
Ipick up the envelope and open it. Mateo isn’t looking at us, but I can feel his anxiety rise to the surface. I empty the envelope’s contents, and a single letter falls out of the folder. It is addressed to my brother.
“Mattie, what is this?” I pick it up and try to hand it to him, since it has his name on it. He doesn’t make an attempt to take it from me.
He sighs, his face pained. He looks at me, sadness in his eyes and his body slumped.
“It’s from Mom.”
