My Elderly Neighbor Died — After His Funeral, I Received a Letter From Him Revealing He’d Buried a Secret in His Backyard 40 Years Ago

“I… He wants me to dig the area by his apple tree.”

My daughter’s voice drifted from inside. “Mom! Where’s the bubble-gum cereal?”

Richie looked up.

Richie gave me a worried look. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t know, Rich. It’s… strange. I barely knew him.”

My husband squeezed my shoulder.

Gemma called again, louder. “Mom!”

I snapped back to the kitchen, dropping the letter onto the table.

“I barely knew him.”

“It’s in the cabinet next to the fridge, Gem. Don’t add sugar.”

“Well, it sounds like he wanted you to know something, Tan. Are you going to do it?” Richie asked.

Our youngest, Daphne, ran in, her hair wild from sleep.

“Can we go to Mr. Whitmore’s yard after school?” she asked. “I want to get more leaves to paint.”

“Are you going to do it?”

Richie and I exchanged a look.

“Maybe later,” I said. “Let’s just get through the morning first.”

**

The rest of the day crawled.

I tied shoes, braided hair, wiped jam off faces, then reread the letter so many times my thumb left a smudge on the ink. Every time I folded it, my stomach turned.

Richie and I exchanged a look.