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Why are they sitting outside?
But I already know. They’ve been waiting to see how my day went. How my six o’clock lesson went, to be specific.
I try to glare at her, but I smile despite myself. “Why didn’t you say something? I stood there like a gob smacked fish.”
She shrugs. It’s smug and proud.
Mama stands, taking my hands and warming them in hers. “You’re shaking. Did it bring back too many memories?”
Only the good ones.
I blow out a breath. “That’s just the effect he has.”
“It’s still there then?”
My eyes water, picturing him standing in the doorway. I’ve thought about him for over a year. The image in my mind didn’t do him justice.
“Yeah, Mama. It’s still there.”
Amy clicks her tongue against the roof of her mouth, whistling as she looks up at the darkening sky. “You need to tell her, Mama,” she sing-songs.
“Tell me what?”
My mother puffs out her cheeks, taking my hand and guiding me to the step. “Sit down, Claire.”
I do because the ground feels unstable under my feet.
A long moment before I explode. “Someone spit it out. You’re killing me.”
One last hard swallow before Mama begins. “Amy told me about the night you were here with Jake.” Shame flashes across her face. She doesn’t remember. I didn’t think she would.
“It’s okay. I understand.”
“Jake came back,” she blurts.
I’m glad I’m sitting down.
“He did what?”
“The next day, he came back. I was embarrassed because I couldn’t remember him. Amy was here to explain. We talked for hours. He told me about his past. About his darkest days. I told him about mine. But I didn’t want to help myself. So, when he left, he gave me a letter. I still remember what he said because of the look in his eyes when he said it.‘I know what it’s like not wanting to get better for yourself, but I promise she’s worth it.’I agreed to his help because a man that loves my daughter that much only has good intentions.”
“He set her up with the best of every doctor, Claire,” Amy adds, like my world isn’t spinning at lightning speed.
He came back.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” I choke, my voice breaking with every word.
“Because I asked him not to say it. I wanted to be sure I could do it. And he didn’t want you to know. After everything that happened, if you read the letter, you would have stayed when you needed to go.”
I’m too shocked to cry. “What was in the letter?”
Her mouth curls into a grin. “I’ll give it to you. I wanted to be sure it was still there between you two before I did.”
With a sigh, she stands and walks away.
Amy shrugs, looking like her mystified self.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I whisper-yell.
