Judy explained.
Judith had known my mother in 1973.
She knew Thomas used to meet me after school.
She also knew my mother disliked Thomas’s plans.
Not Thomas.
His plans.
College.
Travel.
A career outside our county.
My father had died when I was thirteen.
My older brother had moved away.
I was all my mother had.
And she was terrified I would leave too.
So after Thomas left for college, my mother began intercepting his letters.
Judith knew.
At first, she thought it was simply a strict mother protecting her daughter.
Then Thomas returned carrying the ring.
My mother panicked.
She told him I had met Robert.
That was partly true.
Robert and I had been introduced.
But we were not yet courting.
Then my mother gave Thomas letters I had written—letters she had taken before they were mailed.
Thomas believed I had rejected him.
Judith watched it happen.
