She looked down at her teddy bear.
“I only found a note.”
I knelt beside her.
“Sometimes the smallest things change everything.”
She thought about that.
Then she asked:
“Do you think Daddy knew I’d find it?”
My eyes filled.
I looked at the faded blue ribbon around Mr.
Buttons’s neck.
I remembered Grant kneeling beside six-year-old Sophie on the morning he left.
I remembered him telling her to take care of the bear.
I remembered how carefully he’d hugged her.
And suddenly, I understood.
He hadn’t known whether he’d survive.
He hadn’t known whether his evidence would ever be discovered.
But he’d trusted his little girl to treasure a gift from her father.
And he’d trusted our family to find the truth together.
I kissed Sophie’s forehead.
“I think Daddy knew how much you loved him.”
She wrapped her arms around me.
