Probably.
I have become good at making choices for women and calling it protection.
I sat on the bedroom floor.
He knew.
That almost made it harder.
I keep waiting to become brave enough to tell you.
Instead, I have become older.
The final line:
If you ever learn the truth, please do not let my cowardice make you doubt that Emily was ours in every daily way that matters.
I folded the letter.
“I'm going to the cemetery.”
Catherine nodded.
We drove in silence.
The memorial garden sat behind a small stone chapel.
No headstones.
Bronze plaques embedded along a circular wall.
A staff member found the private registry.
GRACE VALE — INFANT
No dates.
No parents listed publicly.
I touched the bronze.
For twenty-nine years, I had walked through life believing I had one daughter.
Now I had two.
One living.
One gone before I ever knew she was there.
