She swallowed.
“Did I hurt you?”
I thought about lying.
Then didn’t.
“Yes.”
Her eyes filled again.
“You walking past me hurt.”
“I’m sorry.”
I put my hands on her shoulders.
“But you also brought me someone I didn’t know I was missing.”
She started crying.
I pulled her into my chest.
After a moment, she whispered:
“Mom said to do it there.”
“At graduation?”
“Yes.”
“She wrote that you deserved to be honored when you learned the truth.”
I closed my eyes.
“That you shouldn’t be alone when the secret came out.”
That sounded exactly like her.
Even eighteen years later—
she had still been protecting me.
THAT NIGHT
I placed the old letter beside my wife’s photograph.
Then I stood there for a long time.
“You knew.”
I smiled through tears.
“You knew all along.”
Laughter came from the kitchen.
I followed the sound.
Arthur sat at the table.
Sophie was beside him.
