Page 119 of The Challenge

The Team at JR Murray Jewelers

Chloe looked at the back of the watch, her eyes slowly widening. Then she covered her mouth. She finally handed it to me so I could read it.

To Phil, Love you eternally. Yours, Judy

Chloe’s eyes watered. “Based on my mother’s finances, I doubt she could’ve easily afforded this, but clearly she found the money.”

“What was her condition like two years ago?” I asked.

“She was already getting pretty bad, but not yet at the care facility. Their marriage was long over by then. I guess she’d totally forgotten that when she placed this order…”

I handed the watch back to her, and Chloe stared down at it again in awe.

Somehow the love Judy had in her heart for Phil had persevered, despite her condition and despite their divorce. That told me everything I needed to know about what we’re left with when we lose everything else, including our minds.

Maybe that’s because love doesn’t come from the mind. It comes from the heart. Maybe love is the last thing we take with us when we die.

Chapter 44

CHLOE

So much had happened in the three months since I’d moved to Dry River.

For one, a couple of weeks ago, I’d finally met my father’s wife. He’d invited me to dinner, and I’d brought Evan and Effie with me for emotional support. With the two of them by my side, I felt like I could do anything. There are two choices in life when it comes to holding a grudge: Harbor it forever or learn to accept that which you cannot change. I chose the latter for my own personal peace.

Courtney admitted that she’d been nervous to meet me, too. Overall, I found her to be really nice. She seemed genuinely interested in learning more about me, asked me a lot of questions about my job, and was super sweet to Effie. So, it could’ve gone a lot worse. It would still take me a long time to warm up to her, but at least I’d taken the first step. The idea of my father married to someone else would always leave me a bit unsettled, but continuing to avoid her wouldn’t change anything. So I vowed to accept it in order to have a relationship with my dad again. If Effie could accept me so easily, I could at least try to make space for my dad’s new wife. That little girl continued to inspire me every day.

Several days before that visit, I’d met my dad at a local coffee shop to give him the watch that’d been delivered by the jewelry store. He’d broken down and cried the moment he read the engraving. He hadn’t even cried during Mom’s wake; he’d seemed numb that night. To my surprise, he’d been wearing the watch the night I came over to meet Courtney. I wasn’t sure if Dad had done that for my benefit, but it meant something to me.

The greatest new development was that Evan, Effie, and I had moved into the big house now that all of the renovations were complete. It felt surreal to be living in my family home again, but this time with my new family. I’d managed to clear out most of the storage unit, so my father was no longer paying for it. We’d brought the remaining items to the house, where there was plenty of room in the basement.

Effie was loving my old bedroom, which we’d finished decorating, adding a full-size white bed and fluffy pink rug to match the other accessories I’d ordered for her. I loved hanging out in there with her and looking at my favorite cottonwood tree through the window. Sometimes when she was at school, I’d go in there, sit on the bed, and stare outside. Occasionally, Evan would come home for lunch, and I’d greet him from the window. We both laughed at the irony, each and every time.

Evan and I moved into the primary bedroom, and we’d decided to completely redo it, since the previous décor reminded me of when Mom was sick. Some stick-on wallpaper, fresh bedding, and new curtains did the trick.

On this particular evening, the three of us had just finished dinner on a Friday night after a long week. The plan was to watch some old family movies that Evan had recently transferred from VHS to digital format. He hooked up his laptop to the television so we could watch them on a big screen.

Effie and I popped some popcorn and each carried a large bowl into the living room.

The first video Evan pulled up had been taken during the summer. In it, Fawn and I frolicked in the backyard, running through sprinklers and having water balloon fights. It was from the period of time before Evan had moved in. I must’ve been around nine.

“That looks like fun!” Effie giggled. She turned to Evan. “Can we get a Slip N’ Slide?”

He nodded and signaled her to lower her voice.

As we continued to watch the video, you could hear my mother laughing as she shot the footage. I closed my eyes, relishing the sound of her voice for a moment as I escaped back to that place of pure love and innocence. Tears blurred my eyes. At one point in the video, my father came home from work, and I could hear him kiss her on the cheek. My heart swelled. At the time, this had seemed like just an ordinary afternoon to me. I’d had no idea how lucky I was or what watching this would mean to me someday. To think that these videos had just been sitting there for so long, unwatched and collecting dust. It scared me that they could’ve been accidentally discarded in the cleanout process.

The next video we watched was from the first Christmas Evan lived with us. I remembered that Christmas Eve clearly. His mom had been in the hospital at the time, and he’d just returned from visiting her. He’d put on a brave face, but that didn’t hide the sadness in his eyes. I remembered wanting to make it better so badly, but feeling powerless at twelve years old. My family had always done a Secret Santa exchange, and in one part of the video, we announced who had been assigned to whom. You could see me blush when I declared that I’d gotten Evan and nervously walked over to hand him his present—a basket of his favorite energy drinks, candy, and a goofy T-shirt.

“Daddy was so cute!” Effie beamed.

“I definitely used to think that,” I agreed.

Evan then switched to a third video, and after the first few clips, I could see this one was different. It wasn’t one long movie, but rather edited snippets—all of him and me. In every single one, I seemed to be either looking at him or interacting shyly. Clearly, I’d been unaware that someone was filming. Then in some of the shots, I was the one filming. You could hear my commentary as Evan practiced on the field or threw around a football with his friends.

He had to have gone through hours of footage to compile all this. Maybe I should’ve been a bit embarrassed, but I mostly felt empathy for that innocent girl with the relentless crush.

I finally turned to him and laughed. “I get the point.”