Page 75 of One Last Gift

Cassie walked up to Josh’s desk the moment the office door shut. “Did Tom give you something for me?” she demanded.

Josh’s expression changed. “You finished the treasure hunt?”

She nodded.

He reached out, took her hands in his. “You figured it out.”

She gripped his hands back, felt tears pricking her eyes. “He got you involved?”

Josh looked like he was about to cry, too. “I wasn’t sure you’d do it.”

“You’ve had it all this time? The gift?”

He nodded. “But I couldn’t give it to you. I knew you had to get to the end.” The phone rang and Josh picked up. “Hang on,” he said, in a very unprofessional voice. He put down the phone on the desk, fumbled in his desk drawer, and got out a letter, which he handed to Cassie. Then he picked up the phone again. “So sorry about that, new assistant, doesn’t know what he’s doing. Can I help?”

And while Josh was dealing with the inquiry, Cassie read, hearing Tom’s voice in her mind.

My favorite sis,

Congrats—you’ve got to the end!

But—there’s a caveat. There’s one more thing you need to do in order to get your epic Christmas present.

I’ve roped Josh in—I like him, have I ever told you that?—and he’s under explicit instruction not to give it to you until you do this last task, however long that takes. I know, I know! I’m mean and a terrible big brother, etc. etc. But I reckon you’ll thank me for it.

So your last task is this: quit your job. Yes, you heard me! Quit your job. It’s holding you back, and your boss doesn’t deserve you.

Whether you do it or not, I love you. But I hope you do. Because I think you’re destined for something else.

P.S. You’ll know by now about Amy, I’m sure. The baby—can you believe that, an actual baby?—is probably nearly here by the time you get to this point, if I’m right with my bets on how long this will take you. I didn’t handle it right at first—you’ll know that too. I got scared, about being a dad, about whether I’d know how to do it. I’m still a bit scared, truth be told, about letting them both down. I wasn’t looking for this, but I think I’ve figured out that sometimes the best gifts in life are the ones you don’t expect. So I want to go back, be there for Amy—and for my child. I’m going to take this time in Argentina to get my head straight and make sure I go back to them in the right place because I can’t let her down again the way I did when I left. I don’t want my child to grow up looking at me the way Sam looks at his dad.

But the point is, I’m not going to let being scared stop me—or I’m going to try not to. When I get back, I’m going to tell Amy how much I love her, how excited I am to meet our baby. And how sorry I am, for not saying that immediately. I love her so much, and I made a mistake, running like that. So what I’m saying—badly (I know, I know, I’m usually more articulate than this)—is that I don’t think you should let fear stop you.

P.P.S. If it’s a boy, what do you think of the name Elton? (Just kidding. I do like the name Noah though.)

Cassie stared at the letter, her heart murmuring in her chest, the paper gripped tightly between her fingers. She focused on the last bit first. He’d made a mistake with Amy. Relief coursed through her. He’d planned to come back, and hadn’t had the chance to tell her, to explain, before he’d died. He’d wanted the baby, had wanted to be with her. He hadn’t abandoned her. Sam had been right.

Then, she took stock of the rest of it. He wanted her to quit her job? That was completely insane. “He’s telling me to resign,” she said out loud, her voice a little hoarse.

He gave her a little smile. “Yeah.”

“But…I can’t. I can’t just quit!”

“Why not?”

What kind of stupid question was that? she thought silently. There was a whole multitude of reasons. Money. Career. Security.

Josh seemed to read all this on her face. “You’d get another job like this, if that’s what you wanted,” he said reasonably. “But you’re trapped here. Tom knew it. I know it. You are brilliant at what you do, but you don’t love it here.”

Cassie stared at him. “So you’re not going to give me the gift? Even after…everything?” After they kept it from her—him, Linda, Hazel. All of them part of it. And even though Tom couldn’t have known that this would be the last treasure hunt she’d ever do, it felt somehow right that her friends had been involved. It felt right that they’d kept the clues to themselves, had allowed her another gift entirely, in figuring it all out herself, no matter the ups and downs.

“I have to think it’s what Tom would have wanted,” Josh said gently.

Cassie stood there, the letter still in her hand, her mind reeling. Robert bustled back in, frowned at her. “Why are you still standing up? Have you even logged on yet?”

She took in his ugly, pouting face, his receding hairline. And she realized. They were right. Tom was right. She didn’t want to be here. She wanted to be doing her own thing. She was scared. But that didn’t make her a coward—she could be scared and brave. So she straightened her spine, and spoke before she could think better of it.

“No.”