Chapter 18 - TWO NAMES ON TWO STONES
The court approved correction of the infant burial record.
The grave that had carried the name Mateo Herrera for thirty-two years would finally carry the name of the child buried there.
Alejandro Navarro.
Beatriz attended the small ceremony.
So did Lucía.
Rosa.
Valeria.
Clara.
Carmen stood at the edge of the cemetery and did not approach until Beatriz saw her.
Carmen handed her the wool cap.
“I was with him.”
Beatriz pressed it to her chest.
“Was he frightened?”
“No.”
“Did he suffer?”
Carmen hesitated.
“Not at the end.”
Beatriz began to cry.
Alejandro looked away to give her privacy.
Lucía stood beside him.
“That was your name,” she said softly.
“Alejandro?”
“Yes.”
He looked at the new stone.
“I’ve had it longer than he did.”
Lucía nodded.
“Names are strange.”
Alejandro glanced at her.
“Do you still think of me as Mateo?”
She took time before answering.
“I think of the baby as Mateo.”
“And me?”
She smiled sadly.
“You’re the man who came to my door and said his name was Alejandro.”
Something loosened inside him.
He had feared she needed him to become the missing infant.
She did not.
She understood that Mateo had not remained frozen in time.
He had become someone.
After the ceremony, Alejandro placed the silver horse bracelet beside the stone.
Lucía immediately picked it up.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“This belongs to you.”
She closed his fingers around it.
“My father made it for my son.”
Alejandro’s throat tightened.
May you like
Lucía gave a faint smile.
“So keep it.”
