Thomas had discovered that Judith and my mother once worked together.
Then Daniel revealed something else.
“There was a notebook.”
Evelyn’s journal.
It was still at the house.
For the first time since Thomas’s funeral, I returned.
Walking through the front door hurt more than I expected.
Not because I remembered being thrown out.
Because I remembered being happy there.
Thomas singing badly in the kitchen.
Thomas sleeping beneath a newspaper.
Thomas looking at me on our wedding morning and saying I looked seventeen and seventy at the same time.
Claire stopped beside me.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For making you leave.”
I nodded.
“I know.”
“That isn’t forgiveness.”
“No.”
“But maybe someday?”
“Maybe.”
In Thomas’s study, Daniel found Evelyn’s journal.
Halfway through it, my name appeared.
Judy called today. She asked whether Thomas ever spoke about a girl named Margaret Hayes.
Two days later:
