He had told her I loved her.
But Livia wrote:
That’s the problem. She loves me like a locked door.
I kept reading.
Natalie had opened the door to Livia in the middle of the night and taken her in without blame, without judgment, without demanding answers.
I wanted to hate Natalie.
Instead, shame burned through me.
The sonogram was dated six weeks after prom.
The hospital bracelet showed that Livia’s baby, Rose, was already three months old.
In one letter, Livia wrote that after giving birth, she wanted me so badly she dialed half my number. Then she remembered something cruel I had once said about another pregnant girl, and she hung up before the call went through.
John whispered, “Open the one for you.”
I didn’t want to.
Which meant I had to.
In the letter, Livia asked me not to punish Liam. She said she had a daughter named Rose, named after my mother, because she wanted one piece of home that did not hurt.
