“She believed a person's value had nothing to do with their position.”
Eli smiled.
“That sounds like a smart woman.”
“She was.”
Samuel opened a folder.
Inside was a scholarship offer.
Eli stared at it.
“I can't take this.”
“You earned it.”
“I only gave you water.”
“You gave me a reason to reconsider what I was doing with my company.”
Eli was silent.
Samuel continued.
“The station will remain open. The workers will keep their jobs. And I'm establishing a foundation in Clara's name.”
Eli looked at the documents.
“What will the foundation do?”
“Help people who have talent but no money.”
Eli thought about his family.
About college.
About the bridges he had once dreamed of designing.
For the first time, the dream didn't seem impossible.
Chapter Five — The Last Bottle
Two years passed.
Eli was studying transportation engineering.
He still visited Harbor Central whenever he could.
Samuel's health gradually declined.
One winter afternoon, Eli found him beneath the old station clock.
Samuel was holding a bottle of water.
He smiled.
“I saved this for you.”
Eli laughed.
“You bought a bottle?”
“No.”
Samuel handed it over.
It was the same bottle Eli had given him years earlier.
The label was faded.
“You kept it?”
“Of course.”
Eli turned it in his hands.