I lowered the phone.
Eleanor looked stunned.
Conrad stared at his mother.
“Did you know about this?”
Her voice trembled.
“No.”
And for the first time that day, I believed her completely.
Someone had wanted both sides of the family to believe the other had shut the door.
Whoever created that letter had succeeded for eight years.
But not anymore.
PART 6: What I Chose Before Leaving
Snow began falling after sunset.
The children pressed their faces against the windows as large white flakes covered the terrace.
Eleanor packed homemade Christmas cookies into four boxes.
Before giving them to the children, she quietly asked me,
“May I hug them?”
That question mattered more than she probably understood.
She was not assuming a relationship.
She was asking permission to begin one.
I nodded.
“Ask them.”
Audrey hugged her first.
Then Willa.
Parker followed.
Miles waited a little longer, but eventually stepped forward too.
Conrad stood near the doorway as we prepared to leave.
There was regret on his face, but I no longer needed his regret to heal anything inside me.
He looked at the children.
