“And you could’ve come to get your own plate. I know your ass hasn’t been here all day,” Tony teases.
I lean up on the bar to pretend to whisper. “I heard June saved you a whole half a pie.”
He beams at my remark. “Thank you, sweetie. And that’s why June’s my favorite. And why you two can go to hell.”
“A whole half a pie? She told me there wasn’t any pie left!” Ella bangs her fist on top of the bar.
“There wasn’t. For you,” Micah comments.
As Aaron steps aside to grab coasters for us, I notice a card pinned to the wall behind the bar. It blends in with a host of other cards and pictures pinned there, but this one looks familiar. It looks like the postcard that led us here.
“Aaron, could I see that, please?”
He raises his brow but pulls the card down and hands it to me.
I don’t recognize the building on the front. I can barely make out that it says “Legacies” above the door, but the bottom of the card says “Richmond, Virginia,” which is George’s hometown. Tanya’s handwriting on the back only further confirms we’re on the right track.
Micah looks at it over my shoulder. “I guess we’re going to Richmond.”
I don’t want to leave. I feel closer to Tanya now that I’ve met her family, and I want to bask in this glow for longer, but we have to keep going. She needs us to finish this.
“We should hit the road tomorrow morning.” We’ll have to say our goodbyes to everyone first thing because Virginia is not a short drive. I wonder if Serena would be able to squeeze me in for a nail appointment before we go.
“Sure. There’s just one thing we have to do first.”
The next morning, Micah honks the horn in front of Tanya’s old house. We’re leaving much later than intended, but Ella kept us out late and we wanted to make sure we were able to say goodbye to the family that welcomed us with open arms.
John’s family walks out of the house, John rubbing his eyes, Ava firmly seated on Dee’s hip, and the other two kids trailing closely behind.
The sight of Tanya’s Continental does the job of waking John all the way up. “Aww man, y’all are leaving already?”
“Yep. We got some things to take care of,” I say, leaning against the car.
The kids come running down the stairs to hug Micah and I goodbye while Dee gives us kisses on the cheek and Ava bites our noses.
“Don’t be strangers. We family now. And anytime you wanna bring this baby back to see us, I won’t be mad.” He rubs his hand on the driver’s side mirror.
“Actually. We were hoping you’d hold on to this car for us.” Micah holds out the keys.
Dee pushes John’s mouth shut when his jaw nearly falls off its hinges.
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah. No doubt in my mind Tanya would want you to have this.”
Tears spring to his eyes and the kids waste no time climbing into the back seat as Micah and I make our way to our new rental car.
It feels good to leave this piece of Tanya where it belongs.
Chapter Fourteen
Dani
“Keep the seeds of your garden watered.” —Tanya
IMAGE SEARCHES ARE NOW MY BEST FRIEND. THE PICTUREon the postcard turned out to be a community center in Richmond, Virginia, called Legacies that Tanya and George started. According to an online article, George’s niece Janine now runs it.
Tanya’s secrets are really piling up.
