You probably will.
You always were good at angry.
Arthur stopped.
His vision blurred.
He continued.
I want you to know I never hated you.
I hated feeling like I couldn't become someone unless I became exactly what you wanted.
Maybe that's what you were afraid of too.
Maybe you thought if I left the shop, I was leaving you.
I wasn't.
I just didn't know how to stay and still become myself.
Arthur lowered the letter.
Jonah looked away.
Arthur continued.
The bell is still with me.
The one you made.
The engraving is crooked.
Don't think I haven't noticed.
Arthur laughed through tears.
The words beneath it are worse.
COME HOME LOUD.
I used to hate that phrase.
Now I understand it.
You weren't telling me to come home quietly.
You were telling me there would always be a place for me to return to.
Arthur pressed the letter against his chest.
The next line nearly broke him.
I wish I had believed that sooner.
He kept reading.
If I ever get the courage, I'll come home.
If I don't, please know that I loved you.
Arthur stopped.
"Why didn't he come home?"
Jonah sat beside him.
"He tried."
Arthur looked up.
"What?"
"He came to Las Cruces in 2001."
Arthur stared.
"Where?"
"Your old shop."
Arthur's breath caught.
"I was there."
Jonah nodded.
"He watched you through the window."
Arthur closed his eyes.
"What happened?"
"He saw you talking to a customer."
"And?"
"He couldn't go inside."
"Why?"
Jonah looked at him.
"Because you were laughing."
Arthur frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"Caleb thought you had moved on."
Arthur shook his head.
"Moved on?"
Jonah nodded.
"He thought you didn't need him."
Arthur whispered.
"I needed him every day."
"I know."
"Why didn't you tell him?"
Jonah had no answer.
Perhaps none existed.
The Empty Shop
The next morning Arthur asked Jonah to take him to the old Bell Plumbing building.
It had been sold years earlier.
Now it stood empty.
The sign was gone.
The windows were dusty.
Arthur stood outside with his cane.
For seventy-nine years, he had carried himself like a man who could repair anything.
That building was the first thing he couldn't fix.
Jonah parked nearby.
Arthur entered through a side door.
Inside, the smell of dust mixed with old metal.
He could almost hear Caleb.
Dad, where's the three-quarter wrench?
In the drawer.
Which drawer?
The drawer where you always put it.
That's not helpful.
Arthur smiled.
Then the smile disappeared.
He walked toward the old workbench.
It was still there.
Under a layer of dust.
He placed his hand on it.
Jonah stood behind him.
"He worked here?"
"Every day."
Arthur nodded.
"Of course he did."
Then he saw something.
A mark beneath the workbench.
Three letters.
C.B.
Arthur crouched.
His knees protested.
Jonah helped him.
There was a small metal box hidden behind a loose board.
Arthur opened it.
Inside were tools.
A photograph.
And another bell.
Arthur stared.
"Why are there two?"
Jonah's face changed.
"I didn't know about that one."
Arthur picked it up.
This one was new.
Polished.
Attached to a leather cord.
There was an inscription.
FOR THE MAN WHO CAME HOME.
Arthur looked at Jonah.
"What does this mean?"
Before Jonah could answer, a truck pulled up outside.
A man stepped out.
He was in his forties.
He wore a gray mechanic's shirt.
He stared through the doorway.
Then he saw Arthur.
The man's face went pale.
"Mr. Bell?"
Arthur turned.
"Yes?"
The man swallowed.
"My name is Samuel Cross."
Jonah stood.
"Cross?"
The man nodded.
"My father was Danny Cross."
Arthur remembered the name.
The man looked at the bell.
"Caleb saved my father's life."
Arthur stared.
Samuel continued.
"And my father spent twenty-five years trying to find you."
Danny Cross
Danny Cross was seventy-one now.
He lived outside Albuquerque.
Samuel drove them there.
Arthur sat in the passenger seat beside Jonah.
The desert passed beyond the window.
Arthur said little.
When they arrived, Danny was sitting beneath a cottonwood tree.
His left leg was stiff.
He used a walking stick.
But when he saw Arthur, he stood.
"Arthur Bell."
Arthur stopped.
"You know me."
Danny smiled sadly.
"I've known your name for twenty-five years."
Arthur walked toward him.
"Why?"
Danny's eyes filled with tears.
"Because your son saved my life."
Danny told the story again.
The crash.