“I know,” Christopher said, taking the picture from her. “You were only thinking of what was best for me. I even thought it was what was best for me for a while.”
Carol smiled through her tears.
Richard sat on the bed on the other side of Christopher and put his arm around his shoulder. “That place is gone forever.”
Christopher nodded. “I don’t miss it at all.” He smiled at his father.
“Can you ever forgive me?” she asked.
Christopher shook his head. Richard smiled. He and Christopher hadn’t talked about how to answer this question when they were planning together in the morning, but his son was doing a great job.
Carol looked hurt. “I understand.”
“Only on one condition. I can forgive you on one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“Scrabble.”
“What?” Carol asked.
Richard smiled as he pulled out the game from underneath the bed.
“I want you to stay and eat lunch with Daddy and me and then play us a game of Scrabble.”
Carol looked over at Richard as if she wanted him to explain what was happening.
“Let’s face it,” Richard said, “this game is never as good with just two.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to Denise Swift, Jeff and Sheri Swift, Steph and Peter Ott, and Ben Swift for their encouragement and patience. To Jen Howard for her excellent editing skills. To all those involved in putting this book together at CreateSpace. To the many family and friends who read the manuscript and offered much-valued suggestions. And thank you to the good people who helped with my Kickstarter project, especially my friends Kelly and Kay Taylor and my father-in-law, Donald W. Fry, for their generous pledges to help fund this book.
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