“Grace,” Mr. Caleb said, and there was something in his voice Grace had never heard before, something gentle and unhidden. “I want you to know that the reason any of this is possible, the reason she came through that door at all, is because of you.”
He looked at her steadily.
“You brought her here. You trusted me with her. You did not know what you were doing, but you did it.” He paused. “I don’t know how to properly thank you for that.”
Grace pressed her lips together very tightly. She was not going to cry. She had never cried in this house in 5 years, and she was not about to start now.
She almost managed it.
“Oh,” she said in a very small voice.
Then she picked up her container and set it back down again and looked at Rebecca and said, “I brought groundnut soup. I didn’t know we were celebrating. I just came to check on you.”
She waved her hand at the container. “But it’s enough for 3.”
Rebecca smiled.
It was the most complete smile she had shown in that house, full and warm and reaching her eyes.
“Then we’ll eat together,” she said.
Benjamin arrived later that afternoon, unannounced, the way he always arrived, with a loud car and no warning.