The man was still standing near the little table.
I looked at him and asked his name.
"Frank Miller."
I thanked him again.
He shook his head.
"You don't need to thank me for returning something that wasn't mine."
I looked down at the grocery bag.
Forty-one thousand dollars.
I had never imagined seeing it again.
Frank noticed that I was still trembling.
"Would you like me to call somebody for you?"
I shook my head.
"Not yet."
He glanced at the front window.
"Are you sure you'll be all right?"
I looked toward the empty driveway.
"My son is coming."
Frank nodded.
"I know."
I wanted him to understand something.
Kevin wasn't a stranger who had made a mistake.
He was my child.
I had raised him.
I had held him when he was sick.
I had stayed awake waiting for him to come home as a teenager.
And now I was afraid of what he might do when he walked through my front door.
That realization hurt.
I asked Frank to sit down for a few minutes.
He chose the chair closest to the entrance.
I carefully lowered myself onto the sofa.
The plastic bag remained on the table between us.
I couldn't stop looking at it.
"Did you really find it underneath the spare tire?"
Frank nodded.
"I was looking for the jack. Then I noticed the compartment didn't look quite right."
He explained that the package had been tucked underneath the tire.
He had removed the towel and seen the money.
At first, he thought it might be something the previous owner had forgotten.
Then he saw how carefully it had been wrapped.
He counted it.
He put everything back into the bag.
And he decided to find me.
"Why didn't you just keep the car and leave the money alone?"
I asked.
Frank looked uncomfortable.
"Because it wasn't mine."
That was all he said.
Sometimes a simple answer tells you more about a person than a long explanation.
I looked at him for a moment.
Then I asked whether Kevin had seemed suspicious when he sold the car.
Frank thought about it.
"He was in a hurry."
"Was he?"
"Yes. He wanted the money quickly. He told me the car belonged to his mother and that she wasn't going to drive anymore."
I looked down.
"That part was true."
Frank nodded.
"He said it had been sitting unused. I believed him."
I couldn't blame Frank for that.
Kevin had made the sale sound ordinary.
He had made it sound as though he was doing me a favor.
Frank continued.
"I checked the car. It seemed fine for the price. We agreed on the amount, and I paid him."
"Did he give you the registration?"
"It was in the glove compartment."
I nodded.
That explained how Frank had found my address.
I asked whether he still had the car.
"Yes. It's parked at my place."
I looked at the keys.
"Thank you for bringing those too."
Frank placed them beside the grocery bag.
Then he looked at me again.
"There's something I want to ask."
I waited.
"Does your son know about the money?"
"No."
Frank looked relieved.
"That's what I thought."
I told him Walt had hidden it there years ago.
I explained that we had saved it together.
I didn't give him every detail.
But I told him enough.
Frank listened without interrupting.
When I finished, he leaned back.
"Well, your husband was a careful man."
I almost smiled.
"He was."
For a moment, I could hear Walt's voice in my memory.
Don't put everything in one place, Peg.
I looked at the towel.
Then I remembered the other thing he had told me.
Don't let anyone make you feel guilty for protecting what you worked for.
I had forgotten that part.
Frank checked his watch.
"I should probably get going soon."
I nodded.
But before he stood, I asked him one more question.
"What exactly did you tell Kevin on the phone?"
Frank looked at me.
"I told him the things left in the car were gone."
"And after that?"
"I told him I'd found something that belonged to the previous owner."
He paused.
"I also told him I had already returned it."
My stomach tightened.
"Did you tell him the amount?"
"No."
I felt relieved.
Frank stood up and put on his hat.
"Ma'am, I don't know what your son is planning. But I wouldn't hand that money over to him."
I looked at the package.
"I won't."
The words came out more firmly than I expected.
Frank nodded.
He walked toward the door.
I asked him to wait.
Then I slowly reached for my purse.
I wanted to give him something for his trouble.
He refused.
"Please don't."
"At least let me pay you for the drive."
"No, ma'am. I didn't come here for money."
He opened the door.
Before leaving, he turned around.
"Take care of yourself, Mrs. Larson."
"I will."
He stepped outside.
I watched him walk down the path.
Then I closed the door.
The house became quiet again.
But this time, the silence felt different.
The money was back.
And I knew Kevin was coming.
I moved the package away from the entrance.
I wasn't going to leave it where someone could grab it.
I carried it carefully to the small cabinet beside my bedroom.
My hip hurt by the time I reached it.
I placed the bag inside and closed the door.
Then I returned to the living room.
I looked at the clock.
There was still time before Kevin arrived.
For once, I wasn't going to spend that time making excuses for him.
Click here to continue reading: PART 6: Before Kevin Arrived, I Made One Decision That I Should Have Made Years Earlier
I Came Home From Three Weeks of Recovery and Found an Empty Driveway Where My Car Had Always Been
Part 5 of 20
