Yellow paper.
Crayon.
Crooked
stickers.
Stars.
Hearts.
One sticker said GREAT JOB!
Across the front, in uneven blue letters, someone had written:
KING DINOSAUR.
I laughed through the tears.
Charlie smiled.
“They made Julian wear that yesterday.”
“All afternoon?”
“Almost. He tried taking it off once to answer a work call.”
“What happened?”
“The children held a vote.”
“And?”
“Six to one against him.”
For the first time since hearing the words Grant Street, I genuinely laughed.
Then something clicked in my mind.
I told Charlie about Lily.
About volunteering there in college.
About crying to Julian during our fourth date.
About the sentence I had said.
Nobody should have to wait for somebody who might never come.
Charlie nodded slowly.
“I think he remembers.”
My chest tightened.
“What?”
Charlie explained that several months earlier, while they were cleaning up the waiting room, he had asked Julian why he volunteered.
