I felt my throat tighten.
“But you have each other now.”
Mrs. Wilson smiled.
“Yes.”
Then she looked toward the house she'd lived in for decades.
“Do you know what frightened me most after Alex locked me downstairs?”
I shook my head.
She lowered her voice.
“I thought I would die without ever telling my daughter who I was.”
My eyes filled.
“I remember tapping on that door.”
She nodded.
“I kept tapping because I knew you sometimes came over in the afternoons.”
Her hands trembled.
“I prayed you'd hear.”
I wrapped an arm around her.
“I almost didn't.”
She smiled sadly.
“But you did.”
For a moment, we sat quietly.
Then Mrs. Wilson said something I would never forget.
“I thought you were coming to save my life, Emma. I never imagined you were going to give me back my family.”
I began crying.
She held my hand until I could speak again.
