Chapter 13
Posie did not stay in the mansion full time after Rourke went to prison.
The court approved a structured plan.
She lived with Rourke’s cousin Elena, one of the few relatives who had never worked in the family business, and spent approved time with Rourke through prison visits and monitored calls.
At first, Posie refused the garden.
Any garden.
Even school gardens.
Flowers meant hedges.
Hedges meant the kennel.
Therapy helped slowly.
Not magically.
She drew cages for months.
Then she started drawing doors.
Then keys.
Then her mother’s bracelet.
The bracelet was not returned immediately.
It remained evidence until Althea’s case ended.
When it finally came back, it was cleaned but not restored.
Tiny scratches remained near the clasp.
Rourke offered to have it repaired.
Posie said no.
“It looks like it fought.”
So it stayed that way.
Celia’s grave was corrected with her full name.
The unidentified marker was replaced.
Posie visited with Elena first, not Rourke.
She placed a yellow ribbon on the stone.
Then asked:
“Did she know I loved her?”
Elena cried.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because she knew you.”
That answer was enough for a seven-year-old.
Later, when Posie asked Rourke the same question during a call, he answered differently.
“She knew. And I should have helped her prove it.”
Posie looked at him through the screen.
“You believed Aunt Althea.”
Rourke did not defend himself.
May you like
“Yes.”
That was the first time Posie heard him say it plainly.
