—

On the afternoon of the ceremony, I removed the old numbers myself.

The organization had already begun preparing the property and had brought new identification for the residence.

I screwed the new numbers into place.

Then I mounted the old brass 1 and 7 onto a small piece of cardboard and placed them inside a white box.

Underneath them, I added a card.

One sentence.

That was all.

Hours later, I stood at the reception while Lisa cut the wedding cake.

Dad noticed me first.

His smile disappeared almost immediately.

We had barely spoken since Mom’s funeral.

“Kristen.”

“Dad.”

Lisa walked over and kissed my cheek.

“I’m so happy you came.”

“I wouldn’t miss it.”

Then she noticed the box.

“You brought us a present?”

“I did.”

Dad reached for it.

For a moment, I held on.

Both of us had our hands on the box.

Then I released it.