My little Emma,
If you are reading this, you are twenty-one.
That means I kept my promise.
I also know you are probably angry that I waited this long to tell you the truth.
Please hear Jack out.
He knows what I could never explain.
I didn't leave because I wanted to.
I left because I believed there was something I had to finish.
And if I failed, Jack promised he would finish it for me.
Love,
Dad
Emma read the letter twice.
Then she looked at Jack.
“What promise?”
Jack took a slow breath.
“Your father had a dream.”
“What kind of dream?”
“He wanted to build a motorcycle that could carry someone who couldn't walk.”
Emma frowned.
She remembered her father talking about motorcycles, but never anything like that.
Jack pointed toward the back of the garage.
“There is something else you need to see.”
Chapter Three — Daniel's Secret
Behind a stack of old tires sat a dusty frame covered with a tarp.
Jack pulled it away.
Emma stared.
It was a motorcycle—but not an ordinary one.
A reinforced sidecar had been built onto the right side. A small folding ramp ran from the sidecar to the ground. The controls had been modified so a rider with limited movement could operate them.
Emma touched the handlebars.
“Dad built this?”
“He started it,” Jack said. “We finished parts of it after he got sick.”
Emma's mother had entered the garage silently.
“You never told me,” Susan whispered.
Jack looked at her.
“Daniel didn't want anyone to know until it was ready.”
Susan's eyes filled with tears.
“Ready for whom?”
Jack hesitated.
“For Emma.”