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Our entire lives are in these shoeboxes.
It takes my breath away.
And at the center of it all, one thing stands out.
One thing is crystal clear.
“You’ve always put love first, Brant,” Samantha says, her blue eyes glimmering with awareness. With knowing. With a mother’s instinct. “You’ve always put June first.”
Five days later, I get a text from June while I’m making a pot of stew on the stove.
My heart leaps.
June: It rained all day in New York City, but I’d relive every gloomy minute just to see this again.
A picture loads, and when it pops up on my screen, I almost collapse.
It’s June, glowing and happy, standing in front of the most beautiful rainbow I’ve ever seen. She’s smiling. She has color in her cheeks.
She outshines every rainbow.
A final text comes through.
June: Pretty, huh? It’s fitting, too—because I sent you a package, and the tracking shows that it just arrived at the main office. I was missing you a lot today, and the rainbow gave me so much comfort. I hope this package is able to bring you comfort. I kept my promise, Brant. <3 Junebug
Confusion trickles through me as I read over her message, but I slip the phone into my pocket and make my way down to the apartment complex’s office.
Sure enough, the receptionist hands me a package addressed from June Bailey.
I smile my thanks and finger the gift, unsure of what hides inside.
As I tear open the plastic outer casing, shuffling distractedly back to my room, I peek inside to see something wrapped in tissue paper with a little envelope attached. I open the note first, stepping into my apartment and closing the door behind me.
It’s a sheet of baby-blue stationary stamped with birds in flight.
I smile.
And then I read.
Dear Brant,
Comfort and courage
Help keep us from sinking.
But for you,
I am both,
So I had to start thinking.
When I was a girl
I made you a promise.
A hard one,
Indeed,
