“Yes.”
My pulse quickened.
“There was a boy.”
Grandpa nodded.
“You two were always together.”
I could barely breathe.
“That boy was Caleb?”
“Yes.”
For a moment, the entire world seemed to go silent.
For illustrative purposes only
Part 3 — The Childhood Caleb Never Forgot
Grandpa began telling me the story my mother had buried.
After Caleb’s mother died, William became increasingly interested in my mom, Sarah.
She wasn’t interested in him.
When she rejected his advances, William retaliated.
He fired her.
Then he used his influence to make it difficult for her to find another position with wealthy families in the area.
“I confronted him once,” Grandpa admitted. “We argued in that house. Caleb was standing on the staircase watching us.”
Something inside my memory stirred.
A man’s angry voice.
My mother’s hand wrapped tightly around mine.
A doorway.
Someone shouting.
“I remember yelling,” I whispered.
