“Apparently she came much closer than any of us knew.”
Mr. Harris read the document.
For nearly a minute, he said nothing.
Then he whispered, “I knew she wasn’t imagining it.”
Claire’s eyes filled with questions.
“What do you remember?”
Mr. Harris looked up at the building.
“Your mother collected money from twenty-four families. Five hundred dollars each.”
Claire nodded.
“The cooperative deposit.”
“Twelve thousand dollars.”
Ruby did the math slowly in her head.
“That’s a lot.”
“It was everything some families had,” Mr. Harris said.
“What happened to it?” Claire asked.
“We got it back.”
Claire frowned.
“I remember Mom being furious because the deal fell apart, but I was nineteen. I was working nights. I didn’t understand any of it.”
“The money was returned about six weeks later.”
“By Graves Energy?”
Mr. Harris shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
He closed his eyes, trying to remember.
