Chapter 23: Daniel

The new stone was waiting under a gray cloth on the hill at Eastlawn, in the spot where the old one had stood.

The old one was gone. The men had taken it away on a Tuesday, and Margaret had not asked where.

It was a bright, cold morning, with the oaks bare overhead.

We came up the hill in a line.

Dad walked in front, in his work jacket with his hat in his hand. Margaret, Levi, Bree and I followed.

He hadn't wanted the rented suit again.

"I'd like it plain," he'd said. "He never saw me dressed up."

The stonecutter waited beside the cloth with his hands clasped.

Dad stopped in front of it.

"Go ahead," he said, and his voice wobbled. "Take it off."

The man drew the cloth away.

The granite was gray and clean. The letters were cut deep.

DANIEL MOYNIHAN.

Under it were two dates, and for the first time the year was cut into this stone in full.

BORN MARCH 3. DIED MARCH 3, TWENTY-TWO YEARS AGO.

Under that, one more line, in smaller letters.

LOVED. VISITED. HIS OWN NAME.

Margaret made a small sound.

"I asked for that last line," Dad said, not turning. "Mrs. Hartwell, I hope you don't mind. You were the one who visited."

"I told him about my days," Margaret said. "Every March."

"You brought him flowers."

"I thought he was mine."

"He was," Dad said. "For twenty-two years. I'd like it to say so."

Keep reading free with an account. Start The Rejected Jinx Is A Billionaire Heiress from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.