My Last Wish novel · Chapter 16 of 24

Chapter 16: Caregiver of the Year

Dane read the lawyer's letter standing at his stove, folded it in thirds, and put it in his back pocket.

"They can come and get them," he said.

"They won't."

"No."

At four o'clock I filled a mason jar from his kitchen shelf with five folded slips.

One.

Fourteen.

Thirty-one.

Forty.

Two hundred twelve.

I screwed on the lid and held it against my chest the whole drive to the Haddon Hotel.

The ballroom was gold and loud.

There were forty round tables and a long banner over the stage that said CAREGIVER OF THE YEAR.

Two television cameras stood on risers at the back, with red lights glowing.

Teddy rode on Dane's shoulders in his dinosaur pajamas, one fist in Dane's hair, staring at the chandeliers.

"Fancy," Teddy said.

"Very," said Dane.

Near the doors, a tall folding table held a laptop and a cable box.

Tierney sat behind it in a navy dress, with a hotel technician beside her.

At her elbow, in a booster chair, a little girl in a yellow dress was drawing on a napkin.

Tierney looked up and saw me.

Her hand stopped on the keys.

She said something to the technician, and the technician nodded and went on setting up the screen.

I did not go over.

I stayed by the double doors with Dane, where the hall met the ballroom, and left a gap I could see through.

"You can leave any time," he said, low.

"I know."

"I mean it."

"I know. I have the page in my wallet."

The host walked out under the lights in a silver dress, with the perfect teeth and the perfect voice.

She welcomed the county.

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