CHAPTER 130: The Week Before

POV: Selene Castellano

The week before Maya’s wedding arrived.

Monday was the foundation’s community partner check-in — Susan Park presenting three months of infrastructure fund data that showed exactly what she’d predicted: that funding the unglamorous things produced visible results faster than anyone had projected.

On Tuesday, Amara had a governance review, which was a thorough and somewhat intimidating assessment. Still, it showed that the foundation was structurally sound and just needed a bit more help with its daily operations. The review found that the foundation was doing okay, but it was struggling to keep up with everything, and it really needed to hire two more staff members by the end of the quarter to get things running more smoothly.

On Wednesday, she went to visit the youth housing program with Kevin Walsh. They met the new case manager, Diane Torres, who was in her first week on the job. What struck me was how confident and competent she seemed, moving through the building like she had been waiting for this opportunity her whole career. It was clear that she was exactly where she was meant to be.

Selene stood in the hallway watching Diane explain the intake process to a young man who couldn’t have been more than seventeen and felt something settle in her chest that had been unsettled since the beginning.

This was the answer.

It was Thursday, and as she walked through the front door, she was surprised to see Avalon standing in the kitchen, at the counter with a cup of coffee looking at nothing in particular.

“What,” she said.

“Nothing bad,” he said immediately.

“Then what?”

He turned to face her.

“I had lunch with Catherine today,” he said.

Selene set her bag down. “ How was it?”

"It was weird," he said, "but in a good way. You know, like when something really changes, not just when it seems like it does." He stared at his coffee, lost in thought. "She was asking about the foundation, and about you. What you're working on, that kind of thing." He paused, collecting his thoughts. "It was like she was trying to figure out what's going on, like she sensed that something was different." He looked up, a hint of curiosity in his eyes. "And then she asked about what you're building, like she was trying to get to the bottom of it."

“What did you tell her?”

"She wanted to know the whole truth," he said. "Everything about it. Like Kevin Walsh's group of 42 young people, and Susan Park's information on infrastructure. And then there was Diane Torres, who was only in her first week. He stopped for a moment, collecting his thoughts. "She even broke down in tears a little," he added.

“Catherine cried.”

She spoke softly, saying “You quietly did everything, and calmly did everything that would have been created if he had lived long enough to see it through, that's what she had said."

Selene felt her throat tighten slightly.

“That’s—” She stopped.

He nodded, "I'm aware, I had to think about it the entire way back home."

She crossed the kitchen and stood beside him.

Neither of them spoke for a moment.

He finally spoke up, saying, "She asked if she could attend Maya's wedding." He paused for a moment before continuing, "Just as a guest, you know, not as part of the family or anything like that. She simply wanted to be there, to be in a room where something happy was taking place."

Selene looked at him.

“What did you say,” she said.

“I told her I’d ask, and I think that's fair, since it's not just up to me to decide."

She was quiet for a moment.

“Yes,” she said. “ She can come.”

He looked at her.

“You’re sure.”

"Selene spoke up, a hint of a smile on her face. 'She's made the right choice, and not just once,' she said. 'I think that's worth recognising, don't you? She should definitely have a place at the wedding.'"

He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close in a gentle gesture.

She leaned into him.

Friday she went alone to the cemetery.

It wasn't something she had thought out beforehand, just a sudden move. She was actually on her way to a meeting, but then she turned the car without even thinking about it. It was like her body had decided for her, following a feeling that was hard to explain.

Nene's grave was simple, just the way she had wanted it to be - her name, the dates of her birth and death, and a single line that said it all.

She kept building.

Selene just stood there, looking at it for what felt like forever.

“Maya’s getting married tomorrow,” she said quietly. You’d have liked him.” She paused. “ You’d have liked what we’re building too. I think you already did, from wherever you planned all of this.”

The cemetery was very quiet.

Wind moved through the trees at the edge of the path.

“I found out what really happened that night,” Selene said. “ On the phone with Jonathan. You begged him. I know that now.” She paused. “ I know you carried that for thirty years, the not being able to save him. I understand that more than you’d probably expect me to.”

She stood quietly for another moment, nodded, wrapping up the question. 

She put her hand briefly against the stone, then she walked away, returning to her car, and then back to the city, where construction and development were still ongoing, leaving everything in a state of flux, with buildings and streets still being built and transformed.

That evening, Avalon walked into the kitchen and noticed a note sitting on the counter.

Her handwriting.

I've gone to visit Nene, but don't worry, I'll be back by 6. You don't need to cook dinner, I'm bringing something back with me.

He read it twice.

He walked over to the kitchen table, pulled out a chair, and sat down, waiting silently for what felt like an eternity until he finally heard the sound of her key turning in the lock.

She walked in with a bag of food from that one place he knew so well, and set it down on the counter. Then she turned around and saw him sitting at the table.

“You waited,” she said.

“I wanted to know what was going on, but only when the time was right, so he said, 'I wanted to hear about it, when you were ready.'"

She came and sat across from him.

Told him everything she’d said at the grave.

He sat there quietly, taking it all in, just like he had been taught to do.

He gazed at her for what felt like an eternity after she was done.

"He spoke softly, repeating the words, 'She kept building,'"

“Yes,” Selene said.

“So do we,” he said.

She reached across the table.

He took her hand.