The envelope sat on her kitchen counter for two days.
White. Standard. Her name in Noah's handwriting. Messy capitals that slanted right. She'd walked past it a hundred times. Picked it up twice. Set it back down.
She knew what it was. What it had to be. The letter he'd mentioned. The explanation. The apology. Maybe another promise he couldn't keep.
Wednesday morning, she finally opened it.
Her hands shook as she unfolded the pages. Three of them. Covered front and back in cramped writing. Words crossed out. Ink smudged in places like his hand had dragged through it.
She started reading.
By the second paragraph, tears blurred the words. She wiped them away. Kept going.
*I blamed myself for years. Thought maybe if I'd been better, smarter, less trouble, he would have stayed.*
Her ch
