It all made so much sense now.
She met Adrienne’s eye, and didn’t look away as she said, “He did it for you, didn’t he?”
“Huh?” said Christine, turning to look at Adrienne, too. “Who did what?”
Bridget ignored this. She spoke only to Adrienne. “You spotted the folder under the stack of books that Christine brought to the back. You tucked it away somewhere out of sight, and later brought it to Jeremiah along with his mocha. Then he handled the rest. I’m guessing you got nervous that I was going to figure it out, and that’s why you tried to frame Sean. You lied and said he was in the back, turning on the music. Then, you even stuffed one of my dad’s pages in Sean’s sweater pocket.”
“You did what?” said Sean. “Adrienne, seriously?”
“I don’t want Jeremiah to go to jail!” Adrienne said. Tears began rolling down her cheeks. “He took it all so far... I brought him the folder because it was the first time I’d ever come into contact with something that was worth millions of dollars. I felt like the papers were going to end up in a museum one day, behind glass. You know how famous papers get saved like that?”
A bagel dropped off of the toaster’s conveyor belt, but she ignored it. “So I wanted to show him how cool it all was. I told him about how crazy smart your dad is, Bridge, and then he got the idea to hold the papers hostage for a payment. I tried to talk him out of it, I swear.”
She sobbed. “But he did it for me - and more importantly, for Henry. Jeremiah said that I could use the money for Henry’s tuition to the new school he wants so badly to go to.”
“The school for gifted kids,” said Christine. “That’s so sweet!”
“It’s not sweet—it’s against the law,” said Sean.
“Um... can I get my coffee, please? I’m in a bit of a rush,” said the man behind the register.
“Oh, right. Yes sir, coming right up,” said Christine. While she poured steaming coffee out of a carafe she said, “I think it’s sweet. Jeremiah’s trying to win Adrienne’s heart by being her knight in shining armor.”
“Just like the hero in the stories he loves,” Bridget said. “The Galaxy Rider series by Buster Leeman. I’m guessing the main character’s name is Phoenix DeBuque?”
“Do you read them too?” Adrienne asked.
Bridget shook her head. “Just a wild guess,” I said.
Christine handed the man his coffee, and then turned to Bridget. “Bridget, that was an amazing guess. Are you some sort of super genius like your dad?”
Bridget was too busy thinking about Jeremiah to answer. “Adrienne, do you think Jeremiah would publish my dad’s papers? If we confronted him, could we convince him not to publish, even if he doesn’t get paid?”
“I don’t know,” Adrienne said, wiping her eyes. “I just don’t want him to go to jail for this.”
“I don't want it to come to that, either,” Bridget said, thinking hard.
“He’s not here, anyway,” Adrienne said. “He took a half day off. I think he was too nervous to be around you this afternoon, what with the hand off coming up and everything.”
A woman near the pick-up zone raised her hand. “Is my bagel ready by any chance? I’m in a bit of a hurry.”
“I’ll get that for you,” Sean said. He reached around Adrienne for the bagel and started spreading butter over it.
Sebastian spoke up “So let me get this straight. If we try to confront Jeremiah, he might publish the papers. And if we go to the police and they try to confront him, he might publish the papers, too.”
“Right,” said Bridget. “What should we do?”
A familiar voice out in the café answered. “We have to pay him.”
Bridget looked out past the small line that was forming at the register. She saw her father approaching. He was smiling, and the sparkle was back in his eyes. He was carrying a small backpack.
“Dad, we can’t do that,” Bridget said. “That’d be letting him win. Besides, you don’t have the money.”
“I took out a loan,” Danny said calmly. “I also sold some of my lab equipment. I’ll replace it when I get paid. It was time. Sold my bike, too.”
Bridget spoke. “But Dad, if for some reason you can’t sell this design, you’ll have nothing!”
“Nonsense,” Danny said. “I’ll still have my family, my creativity, and my love for science. If I don’t sell this invention, I’ll come up with another.”
Bridget examined her father, searching for signs that he was putting on a brave face despite underlying uneasiness. There were none. He seemed peaceful and happy with his decision. “Okay, Dad,” she said. “How do you want to go about doing this?”
For the rest of the afternoon, Bridget listened to her staff and her father’s input about how they might approach the situation with Jeremiah. In addition to planning, they also helped customers. At six, the doors to the public closed, and Bridget, her staff, and her father continued strategizing as they completed clean-up duties together.
Sebastian even mopped the floors. “Hey, it’s kind of like dancing,” he said, as he swiped the mop across linoleum.
Since Jeremiah had taken off for the day, Bridget also hustled over to the bookshop side of things to help the employee there finish his closing duties. While she was over there, Bridget used wrapping paper decorated with colorful spring flowers to wrap the shoe box of cash that her father had brought with him. She even tied a pretty robin’s egg blue ribbon around the box for a final flourish.
At 6:30, with closing duties completed, the café crew and Danny exited Glitter Cup and stood together in a little knot as Bridget locked up the doors. She held the letter that they’d just helped Danny compose in her hands.
With the doors locked, Bridget turned to the others. “Dad, read this aloud to us one more time. We can see if anything needs to be changed.” She handed the envelope containing the letter to Danny, who pulled the sheet of paper out and began to read aloud.
“Dear Jeremiah. When Bridget was a very little girl, I taught her what I considered at the time—and still consider—to be the most vital truth for living beings. And it was this: we are all connected. I’ve been passionate about science for a very long time, and my studies confirm this truth, time and time again. So, my brother, on a quantum level, we’re connected. You asked for this money, and I choose to give it to you. Apparently, ‘you’ need it more than ‘I’ do. In terms of physics, it’s all the same. So, Jeremiah, take this gift. Also, I’m inside the restaurant, should you want to come and join us for a drink. Hope to see you inside, brother. Your friend, Danny.” As Danny finished reading, he looked up.
Bridget smiled at him and nodded. “Dad, I think it’s perfect,” she said.
“Do you think he’ll have a beer with you?” Christine asked.
“I hope he does,” said Adrienne.
“I could go for a beer myself,” Sean said.
“Do they serve fish tacos on nights besides Thursdays?” Sebastian asked.
Bridget chuckled. “You really liked those, didn’t you?”