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“Because you didn’t need to know. You fell in love with him all on your own.”
He’s the reason I have my mother back.
And he didn’t want me to know. He just did it.
A part of me isn’t surprised because he cares that much, but my heart swells anyway.
Mama arrives back and places a white envelope in my lap. It’s as light as a feather, but I know whatever he wrote in there will carry the weight of my heart.
“Read it,” she says, nodding at Amy to give me time.
With shaking hands, I remove the page from the envelope, my tears already soaking the sheet.
I read.
I cry
I fall in love again.
Chapter Fifty-Four
The letter
This might not be my place. If so, tear up this letter, and throw it away. If you never open it, I have nothing to lose.
I understand I’m nothing but a stranger, and you don’t have to accept anything from me. But I’m asking anyway.
Pain has a funny way of showing itself. It keeps us frozen in time, too trapped to move forward or see past it. I know it when I see it because I recognize it. The endless cycle of wanting to go back in time, wondering what if we had done things differently? If we spoke a minute sooner or said nothing at all, would life be different?
For such a long time, I was stuck back there too.
Until Claire walked into my life.
Though I don’t think Claire walks into anyone’s life. She blazes.
I promise she can heal the deepest cuts, and the wounds that won’t stop bleeding with just her laugh. It’s loud but contagious.
I know she can help your healing because she has a heart so big she’s unable to contain it. It overflows.
She’s one of the strongest people I’ve ever met, and I promise she’s worth getting to know.
On the days when life is hard, and she wants to hide it from the world, she puts two sugars in her coffee like it can cure all her problems. She dances barefoot in her office, and she doesn’t care who sees. She talks to herself when she’s stressed. And she plays the piano as a tribute to you. I see it every time she plays and gets lost. She’s right there with you.
I promise she’s worth it. She’s worth getting better for.
She’s better than any high or the numbness you get from the bottom of a bottle.
Claire even heals the wounds you don’t know you have, all without showing she has so many of her own.
I should know. She healed me.
I promise, she’s worth every single second.
Now it’s my turn to heal her.
She would never ask, and I’m sure she would kick me in some painful places if she knew I was doing this. But I’m asking for Claire and her memories.
I’m asking for the little girl whose mother once told her that if she never jumped in the cold water, she would miss out on a great adventure.
