“My mother said it to me. I said it to Ruby.”
Ruby looked from the plaque to her mother.
“So Grandma started it?”
“Apparently.”
Ruby considered the twelve years separating Eleanor’s words from the wallet beneath the bus-stop bench.
“That’s weird.”
Nathaniel smiled.
“Life often is.”
“No. I mean…”
Ruby searched for the right words.
“If Grandma hadn’t said it to Mom, and Mom hadn’t said it to me, I might have kept your wallet.”
Claire raised an eyebrow.
Ruby quickly added, “I wouldn’t have.”
“You admitted you thought about it.”
“For one second.”
“Two.”
“Maybe.”
Nathaniel laughed.
Ruby pointed at the plaque.
“But if I didn’t return it, you wouldn’t have seen the notice.”
“No.”
“And nobody would’ve found Grandma’s papers.”
“Possibly not.”
“And Mom might not have found Caleb.”
Claire smiled.
“And the building?”
Nathaniel answered.
“Someone else might eventually have uncovered the old records.”
