Claire held Ben’s letter against her chest.
“I cannot pretend everything is repaired,” she said. “I do not trust you yet.”
Ben nodded.
“You do not have to.”
She considered him for a moment.
“One phone call every Thursday. Start there.”
“I will.”
During the drive home, Ben apologised for continuing to accept my payments after the Thursday trips became personal.
He explained that Dad insisted I would become suspicious if the arrangement changed.
Dad had managed both of us until the end.
The following Thursday, I was still at his house sorting tools and clothes that carried his familiar scent.
At nine o’clock, Ben’s car appeared outside.
He had arrived from habit.
I was waiting on the porch with two coffees.
“I assume the royal carriage still operates on Thursdays,” I said.
Ben looked toward Dad’s empty window.
“The carriage feels rather empty now.”
We decided to drive anyway.
He passed the library, the bakery and Dad’s clinic.
Then his phone rang through the car speakers.
Claire’s name appeared on the dashboard.
Thursday.
Exactly as promised.
Ben reached for the button, then stopped to rehearse his opening.
I touched his wrist.
“No rehearsal.”
He nodded and answered.
“Hello, Claire.”
His voice shook.
For a second, the car felt painfully empty.
Then Claire replied:
“Hello, Dad.”
Ben exhaled as though he had been holding his breath for years.
I looked toward the passenger seat where my father should have been and unfolded his letter one final time.
He had spent his last years proving that losing his sight had not made him powerless.
Every Thursday, he helped a stubborn father find the road back to his daughter.
And in doing so, he taught me how to keep helping after he was gone.
