And another surprise.
A photograph.
Three women stood outside an old diner.
One was my mother.
One was seventeen-year-old me.
And the third looked exactly like Evelyn.
On the back, in Evelyn’s handwriting, were the words:
The day I learned Margaret was never the one who stopped writing.
But there was a problem.
The photograph had been taken in 1973.
Evelyn did not meet Thomas until 1975.
PART 3 — THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
Mr. Bennett finally explained.
The woman was not Evelyn.
It was her older sister, Judith.
Claire recognized her immediately.
“Aunt Judy.”
Judith had worked one summer at Miller’s Diner.
So had my mother.
That was the missing connection.
Claire called Daniel.
He arrived forty minutes later.
At first, he was defensive.
Then Claire showed him Evelyn’s letter and the photograph.
Daniel’s expression changed.
“I’ve seen that picture before.”
He admitted Thomas had shown it to him years earlier.
