Shame became anger.
She stepped directly into his line of sight.
“Don’t.”
His expression remained calm.
“I wasn't—”
“Don’t look at my house.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t feel sorry for us either.”
“I don't.”
“Then what?”
Cole glanced toward Lily.
The girl was watching him now.
Not afraid exactly.
Curious.
Cole asked:
“Do you remember me?”
Lily frowned.
Rachel turned.
“Lily?”
The girl studied his face.
Then shook her head.
“No.”
Cole nodded.
“I figured.”
Rachel felt a new kind of unease.
“Where would she know you from?”
Cole reached toward the donation jar.
Rachel grabbed it first.
“Don’t touch that.”
The entire street seemed to tense.
Cole immediately raised both hands.
Behind him, one biker reached toward his motorcycle key.
Cole said:
“Kill the engines.”
The riders looked toward him.
“Now.”
One by one, engines stopped.
The sound disappeared gradually.
Then completely.
The silence felt strange.
Rachel could hear a lawn sprinkler somewhere down the block.
A dog barking.
The faint buzz of power lines.
A neighbor whispered:
“Should somebody call the police?”
Cole heard.
He did not react.
Rachel held the donation jar against her body.
There were nineteen dollars inside.
Singles.
Coins.
One five-dollar bill from Mrs. Bell.
The label read:
LILY’S LEMONADE FUND
Cole pointed toward it.
“I only want to write something.”
“Why?”
“Because the sign is wrong.”
Rachel stared.
“What?”
“The label.”
Lily looked offended.
“I wrote it.”
“I know.”
“You said it’s wrong.”
Cole looked at her.
“Yes.”
She planted both hands on her hips.
“What’s wrong with it?”
Cole’s face almost softened.
“You shouldn't have to fix your mother’s bills.”
Rachel went still.
Lily said:
“But I’m helping.”
“You are.”
“Then it’s right.”
Cole nodded slowly.
“Maybe part of it.”
Rachel asked:
“Who are you?”
He reached inside his vest.
Rachel stiffened.
Cole stopped immediately.
“Marker.”
He pulled out a black permanent marker with two fingers.
Nothing else.
He placed it on the table.
“My name is Cole Maddox.”
Rachel waited.
“That should mean something?”
“No.”
“It doesn't.”
“I know.”
He looked toward Lily.
“But she meant something to me.”
Rachel’s pulse changed.
“How?”
Cole picked up the marker.
Did not touch the jar.
He waited.
Rachel understood.
Permission.
She slowly placed the jar back on the table.
Cole picked it up.
Lily leaned closer.