Fitzgibbon pulled into a Tremont Street parking garage and parked the SUV. He turned back to Spencer who looked a little scared. “Remember these are real people with pride who deserve to be treated with kindness, respect, and dignity. You’re here to make their day better, not worse. Got it?”
“Got it,” Spencer said.
It was a five minute walk from the garage to the Tremont Street Mission. Ronan always loved this part of the city. In front of him was the Boston Common, America’s oldest park. Behind him was the Theater District. In between, were people who were just trying to make it through the day. They couldn’t care lessaboutHamilitonplaying at the Boston Opera House or a group of young mothers pushing strollers around the Common, all that mattered was where their next meal was going to come from and where they’d lay their weary head that night.
“Here we go.” Fitzgibbon opened the door, pulling Ronan out of his head. “You good?”
Ronan nodded. “Being back here makes me realize how lucky I truly am. If I hadn’t agreed to go to rehab after that bad shooting, I could have ended up in a place just like this. Really makes you think.”
“It sure does,” Fitzgibbon agreed. “I have a feeling that was Aunt Effy Lou’s reason for putting conditions on Spencer’s inheritance, to make him walk in someone else’s shoes and realize that he’s blessed, even though he didn’t see it that way.”
“You’re right,” Ronan agreed. He thought back to the fact that Spencer was orphaned at a young age. How would Everly and Ezzie grow up without him and Tennyson to guide them? The thought shook Ronan to his core. He knew Jude and Cope would raise his babies to be amazing human beings, but at six and two years old, would his kids even remember him when they got older?
Fitzgibbon ushered Ronan inside the shelter. Long cafeteria tables sat in rows near the food line. People sat eating and laughing with each other. At night, the tables would fold up and cots would be brought out. To the left of the tables were shelves lined with donated books. Matching chairs and sofas were arranged to encourage conversation. Toward the back were racks of clothing for casual and professional settings. The clothes allowed people to dress for job interviews to put their best foot forward.
“Hey, guys.” Jace approached, hugging Ronan, Jude, and Fitz. He offered his hand to Spencer. “I’m Jace Lincoln, Fitzy’s husband. Let me show you around.” He winked at Fitz and led the young man off toward the tables of people, introducing Spencer as they moved through the room.
“This place is amazing,” Ronan said. He’d been to the Mission several times while he’d been working on the serial killer case. It turned out several of the victims had stayed in the shelter and he’d needed to interview Jace and the other people at the shelter who knew them. He was ashamed to admit that he’d thought Jace could have been the killer. When Ronan brought him in to be questioned, Jace had lost his lunch all over the interrogation room. For Fitz, it had been love at first sight,beforeJace had started spewing like geyser.
Jace never believed people wanted a handout, but rather a hand up. That’s what he’d been doing for the last twenty years. He funneled a lot of his own funds into the Mission, but over the years had garnered some impressive benefactors who helped with food and clothing donations. It had become a family tradition for all of their friends to give Jace checks before Christmas to help provide toys for the kids and hot meals for everyone.
“Oh, lord, Jace is bringing Spencer into the kitchen. Can the kid cook?” Fitzgibbon asked.
“I very much doubt it.” Ronan would be surprised if Spencer could make toast or boil water without burning the house down. “I’ll go help.” Ronan headed past the food line, greeting a few of the volunteers he knew and walked into the kitchen. Jace and Spencer sat at the far end of the room at a work bench with several large bags of potatoes stacked in front of them.Jace was showing him how to peel the potatoes. Spencer looked overwhelmed. “Can you use another set of hands?”
“You bet. Dig in.” Jace handed Ronan the potato peeler he’d been using. After the potatoes, we’ll go on to the apples for pies.”
Spencer’s eyes widened at the mention of more peeling, but he stayed silent.
“Here we go.” Ronan grabbed a potato and started to peel. He noticed Spencer watching him and then trying the device himself. “You ever cook anything before?”
“A little,” Spencer admitted. “Mom and Dad usually brought takeout home for us since they were too tired to cook, but Aunt Effy Lou loved to bake. She would make cookies and I’d sit at a stool near the counter and would dump the ingredients into the bowl. As I got older, I started to resent Effy Lou because she was there but my parents weren’t. Of course it wasn’t her fault and she did the absolute best she could for me. A few years after my parents died was when she lost Blue. Everything changed after that. To be honest, I thought she was going to follow him into an early grave.”
“Do you know why she didn’t?” Ronan asked thoughtfully.
Spencer shook his head. He finished with the first potato and grabbed another.
“Because of you.”
“Me?” Spencer sounded surprised.
“Effy Lou loved you with her whole heart. She was all you had and in turn you were all she had.” It had been the same way with Ronan and his mother. He remembered how completely alone he’d felt when Erin died.
“God, I was such an asshole.” Spencer shook his head. “Do you think she’ll ever forgive me for the way I treated her?”
“Yeah, you’re family. It’s what we do. You’re luckier than most thanks to Tennyson and the way that Effy Lou was somehow able to speak to you from beyond the grave. I did what you asked and told Ten you said Effy Lou was welcome to come see you again. She might even be with us now.”
“Do you think she would be proud of me?” Spencer asked shyly.
Ronan nodded. “Yeah, I think she would be.”
“But?” Spencer prompted.
“I assume that Aunt Effy Lou hoped these lessons would stick with you long after the public service conditions of the will have been met.”
“You mean that I shouldn’t go back to the idiot I was before?” Spencer offered a grin.
“I hope that this experience would make you feel like your old life was a skin you shed, like a snake. That you learned so much from donating books to kids and working at a shelter that you’d never consider going backward.” Ronan knew that was Effy Lou’s point in all of this. To make her nephew a better man for the long run, not just until he got his hands on her loot.
