THE NIGHT EVERYTHING CHANGED
After we landed, I found Walter waiting near the gate.
He was thinner than I had imagined.
Much thinner.
His silver hair was almost completely white, and his hands trembled as he gripped the armrests of his wheelchair.
Terrence approached him.
For several seconds, neither man spoke.
Then Walter looked at me.
“You must be his wife.”
I nodded.
“I’m sorry you had to hear all of this on an airplane.”
I smiled faintly.
“Honestly, I’m just glad I finally heard it.”
Walter looked at Terrence.
“Tell her.”
Terrence stared at him.
“Not here.”
“Then when?”
Terrence’s jaw tightened.
Walter lowered his eyes.
“You’ve spent eight years waiting for the right moment.”
Then he looked at me.
“There isn’t one.”
Terrence closed his eyes.
Finally, he whispered:
“Mom didn’t die the way I thought she did.”
I felt my stomach tighten.
“What do you mean?”
Terrence looked at Walter.
Then at me.
“She was sick. Very sick. But the night she died, Walter wasn’t drunk.”
I stared at him.
“You told me he was.”
“I believed he was.”
Walter shook his head.
“I wasn’t.”
Terrence’s voice became quieter.
“I blamed him because I saw him arguing with my mother that night.”
Walter swallowed.
“She wasn’t angry with me.”
“Then what happened?” I asked.
Walter looked directly at Terrence.
“Your mother had discovered something.”
“What?”
“She discovered someone was stealing money from the airline.”
Terrence went completely still.
