Dear Lucky,
If you’re reading this, I’ve been arrested. I’m sorry. Take this money, go to a motel for now, then find a cheap apartment. There’s enough in here to at least pay for your first tuition installment, and I’m afraid I can’t say what you should do about the rest—but here’s hoping I’ll be around to help you again soon. Sometimes charges don’t stick. Whatever you do, do not tell anyone you are my daughter. Don’t try to help me. You’re better off on your own.
I love you, kid. We’ll see each other again soon. Promise.
Dad
Lucky read the letter over and over, trying to find the part where he told her exactly what to do, and exactly why and how it was going to be okay—but it wasn’t there. There was no magic formula.
She was on her own.
She locked the box again and put it in her backpack. She packed clothes, as many books as she could fit, and that was it. Time to run. Alone.
When she stepped off the boat, Cary was waiting on the dock. He had a puppy in his arms, brown and black, furry and wriggling, so skinny you could see her ribs.
“This is Betty,” he said, putting her down. “I just picked her up from the ASPCA. The exact kind of dog we dreamed about. Remember? Shepherd, husky, a little of both.”
“Go away. You’re the last person I want to see.” The puppy tumbled over the tops of Lucky’s feet.
“My mom got arrested, too.”
“Really? Because I was there, and I didn’t see her in handcuffs.”
“They came to my house. They got her first, and then she told them where your dad and Reyes were.”
“Of course she did.”
“I’m sorry this is happening. I mean, I’m not sorry my mother is in jail, or Reyes, either—but I know how upset you must be about your dad. I’m so sorry.”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
“You think I’m a liar, but here’s the truth, okay? All of it. Months ago, my mom started talking about the guy who was working for her, how he had a daughter named Lucky and he was working to put her through school. I got curious about the fabulous, smart, apparently quite beautiful Lucky. I came down to the beach, and I found you—and I just, I swear, it was love at first sight. I didn’t want to tell you who I was; I thought that would weird you out. I also figured you didn’t like my mom much, because no one does. So I lied. It went too far, it became too late to come clean. But my feelings have always been real—which is why I kept lying. I was afraid to lose you.”
Betty was weaving through Lucky’s legs, poking her skinny little nose all over her feet until she almost fell over.
“She likes you. And she’s yours.”
“You can’t buy me with a puppy.”
“Well, I couldn’t afford a plane, so…” He smiled that lopsided smile she hadn’t seen in weeks, and she felt herself softening against her will. “We’re supposed to be together. Don’t you see that? We don’t have to be like our parents, we can just be us. Accept it. It’s destiny.”
Lucky straightened up and tried to ignore the puppy. “I was supposed to be with a guy named Alex, but he doesn’t exist.”
“Do you really want to be alone?” He stepped forward, looked down at her in that intense way of his. “Because your dad is gone, Lucky. He’s not getting out anytime soon.”
“You don’t know that for sure.”
Betty yapped, and Lucky leaned down to pat her head. Cary crouched in front of her. “Come on, just look at this puppy. Betty needs you. Could you look at me?” he pleaded. “I want you to forgive me for lying to you when we were first together. And I want you to know that I swear on my life, on Betty’s life, that I will never lie to you again about anything, ever, not as long as I live. I need you, Lucky—and you need me. Supporting yourself through school is going to be next to impossible. I know how much you want it. And I want it for you. I love you. You love me, too. Admit it. You do.”
“It’s not a good way to start a relationship, not knowing anything real about the other person.”
“Why can’t we just make it up as we go along? Blank slate.”
“I’ve been too many people now to ever have a blank slate.”
“Are you sure about that? We can start fresh, whenever we want. And I’ll love all versions of you. I’ll love you no matter what you do, no matter what you say, no matter who you are, always. And I’ll take care of you. You won’t have to be alone.”
“I’m fine on my own,” she said. But she had never been alone in her life.
“You know we can do anything, if we stay together.” Betty was wagging her tail, hard. “See? She agrees. And she’s a smart dog.”
Cary put a finger under her chin, lifted her face to his. “I know all your dreams,” he said. “I know those were real, when you told them to me. And I want to help make them come true. Let me take care of you. Don’t walk away alone.”
She stood. He handed her Betty’s leash, and together they walked away from the boat and toward The Hill, where there was an empty mansion waiting, and a brand-new life, too.
* * *
Later that summer, the arraignment for the “Foster Kid Fakers,” as Priscilla, John, and Reyes had been dubbed by the media, was reported in the papers. All the details about the fake charity they had been running were there. And Priscilla Lachaise was negotiating a plea bargain, the article explained. She had information on another case.
“I’m worried,” Lucky said to Cary as she sat at the kitchen island in Priscilla’s mansion and pored over the article. “When she gets out, Priscilla is not going to be happy you used her bail money for my tuition.”