The Haskins family stopped calling.
Their expensive lawyers stopped appearing at Ray’s shop.
And for the first time since Kayla’s death, the house felt peaceful.
That night, I finally opened the envelope my sister had left for me.
I sat in my truck in Ray’s driveway with the dome light on.
I read the letter once.
Then twice.
By the fourth reading, the paper was trembling in my hands.
I’m not going to share everything she wrote. Some words belong to the people who receive them.
But one paragraph has stayed with me ever since.
“Cole, I know you. You’re going to want to fight somebody. Please don’t. I need you here, not sitting in a jail cell. Ray is going to carry Lily out of that hospital because he’s the one person Tyler’s family can’t easily intimidate. But Ray isn’t her home. He’s the wall.”
I stopped reading for a moment.
