"No."
“I married Anna Hale after I left Mercy Ridge.”
“You tell me that Mara is mine.”
"Sisters."
Elias has become unbalanced back.
All the feelings he refused to name suddenly shattered.
"No."
Thomas continued.
“I didn’t know Anna had a baby when I disappeared.”
Elias was feeling unwell.
He turned to the room where Mara was sleeping.
All the moments between them.
- Her smile.
His promise.
The life he had imagined.
Disappeared.
He left before dawn.
No good one.
No explanation.
It just went north.
Three hours later, Mara found the page.
He read it.
Then read it again.
Samuel has come in.
He looked up.
“Is it true?”
Samuel's face is dark.
"No."
“What?”
“That paper is forged.”
Mara got up.
“How do you know?”
“Because your mother was my aunt.”
Mara looked at it.
Samuel took the document.
“This is not hers.”
Thomas gave it to Elias.
