“I suppose I owe you one more truth.”
I raised an eyebrow.
She pointed at Ryan.
“I may have lied about being in love with him.”
Ryan laughed.
“Definitely.”
Margaret continued.
“But I wasn’t URM lying when I said he became family.”
Ryan’s smile disappeared.
Margaret handed him a small envelope.
Inside was a check.
Ryan immediately tried to return it.
“No. Absolutely not.”
Margaret pushed it back into his hands.
“You helped me when you had nothing to gain from it.”
Ryan’s eyes filled with tears.
The money was enough to cover the rest of his college tuition.
Six months later, Ryan still visited Margaret every Sunday.
So did I.
Sometimes I think about how easily I had judged him when I first saw that twenty-four-year-old man entering an elderly widow’s home.
I thought I knew what was happening.
I was completely wrong.
The person I distrusted most was the one trying to protect her.
And the person Margaret had trusted for decades was the one she had needed protection from.
