“I knew her.Not her name, but I knew her.”
“That’s silly.”
I chuckle.“It probably was.”
“Did Mommy love you?”
I pick up one of the envelopes and trace my thumb over her handwriting.“Yeah, baby.She did.”
A soft gasp comes from the doorway.
I look up.
And there she is.
My girl.
Suri stands frozen in the hall, holding a basket of laundry.Her blue eyes are suspiciously shiny.Beautiful still, always.
She catches me looking and shakes her head.“You’re making her a romantic.”
“Damn right I am.”
“Mommy!”Ella cries as she jumps up.
She races across the room and wraps herself around Suri’s legs.
Suri laughs and sets down the laundry basket before scooping her up.“What are you two doing in here?”
“Looking at treasure.”
Suri glances toward the letters, and her expression softens immediately.“Oh.”
I stand and walk over to them.The second I’m close enough, I slide an arm around her waist, same as I always do.I can’t help myself, never could.Her head tips back against my shoulder.
“You kept all of them?”Ella asks.
I snort.“Of course I did.”
“Why?”
I stare down at my wife, at the woman who changed everything, the woman who wrote one letter and accidentally handed me an entire future.“Because they’re important.”
“More important than treasure?”
“Way more important.”
Ella looks horrified.Apparently, that’s a big claim.
Suri laughs, and the sound settles something deep inside me.
“What did the letters say?”Ella asks.
I smile.“They said everything.”
Suri turns, smiling softly up at me.
Ella sighs at our lovey-dovey behavior, and I hide my laugh in Suri’s neck.
