The money wouldn’t solve their problems, but hopefully it would help most, if not all of them, start to heal. Sage had even talked about maybe one day reaching out to some of the people as part of his recovery, since a few had formed a small support group.
“Are you ready to go?” I asked.
Sage nodded. “Yeah.”
As cathartic as watching the house come down had been, it was only part of the reason we’d come to Mississippi. Saying goodbye to the farmhouse wasn’t anywhere near as important as who we were going to go say goodbye to next. It had been Sage’s decision to visit Mouse. While no other family had been located for the little girl, when the news about her death had aired, thousands of people had donated money to give her a proper funeral and burial. Sage hadn’t attended the service, but that had been a good thing.
He hadn’t been ready to say goodbye back then.
He was ready now.
I pulled his hand up to my mouth and kissed it while Daisy pressed a soft kiss to his shoulder. I led them both back to the truck. I wasn’t surprised that Sage ended up between me and Daisy on the front seat.
It was what he needed for this final piece of our trip before we began the long journey home.
And between me and Daisy, Sage would always get what he needed.
Always.
The End