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Then again, a lot had happened in that time to help improve my mood and to make me feel safer.
For starters, I’d found a moment to visit quickly with Hanna, so I could talk to her about the idea she had regarding my parents.
“So, I spent that day that everything was on the news thinking,” she started when I walked back into her house later that same day. “I feel like I must have had a million ideas pop into my head, too.”
“I assume there’s one that stuck, though?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yep.”
“Well, can I just say that I’m especially grateful to you for even being remotely concerned about this like you are?” I replied. “Honestly, Hanna, I really appreciate how much you’ve done to support me since I’ve gotten here.”
A friendly smile formed on her face. “We all need a little extra love and support from time to time. Some of us might not get it, but when we have it to give, we should.”
I tipped my head to the side and assessed her. Something about her words made me wonder if perhaps she’d experienced something where she’d needed someone in her corner and didn’t get it. I was going to ask about it, but before I could, she spoke again.
“At first, I thought it would be simple enough to have you call them from here, but unless they’ve got a landline at their house, which, let’s face it, who has one of those anymore, that’s not going to work.”
I shook my head. “Only cell phones.”
“That’s what I figured,” she replied. “Obviously, texting or calling their cell phones could be problematic if your husband is keeping tabs on them in an attempt to locate you. I mean, I don’t know what kind of resources he has available to him, but I just don’t think it’s wise to take any chances.”
“I don’t disagree,” I told her.
As a proud look washed over her face, she declared, “That’s why I think you should write a letter.”
“What?”
“I think you should hand write a letter and send it to them in the mail,” she said. “And before you say no, I suggest you do not put a return address on it. Obviously, there will be the postmark on the envelope, but I’d urge them to toss that as soon as they get the letter. Of course, don’t put anything in the letter that will indicate your exact whereabouts. You just want them to know that you’re okay, right?”
“Right.”
Hanna heard my answer, but she gave me a few seconds to digest all that she’d said before she urged, “So, write them a letter. Tell them you’re okay and that you’ll be in touch as soon as you are able. I think this way is almost virtually untraceable, no matter how many resources someone has.”
I considered her suggestion, and it didn’t take me long to decide that it was a great idea. I could write my parents a letter, let them know that I was okay, and ease their worries. To be extra safe about it, I could even mail it out from a post office a town or two over from Steel Ridge.
Yes.
Yes, this would work.
“This is a fantastic idea, Hanna. I don’t know why I never even considered doing something like this as an option,” I finally said.
She beamed at me, a proud look washing over her. “Once you’ve written it and have it all sealed up, feel free to give it to me,” she said. “Since you were all over the news and probably want to avoid as many places as possible where you could be seen, I can take it to the post office for you.”
“Really? You’d do that for me?” I asked.
Nodding, she replied quietly, “Of course.”
She really was one of the kindest, most selfless women I’d ever met, and I felt fortunate to have met her.
Following my conversation with Hanna that day, I immediately went back, pulled out a notebook, and started writing. I shared enough so that my family would know I was safe, but also so they’d know that I was working on resolving the current situation. Of course, I made sure to tell them not to reveal that they’d heard from me, especially to Patrick, and I urged them to discard the envelope I’d sent the letter in.
It took me about an hour to finish writing the letter. I’d stopped and started over again several times, but I didn’t mind.
Because in the time it took me to compose a letter to my family, it gave me a reprieve from all that I was feeling about Kane.
Initially, I thought it might have been because it was early on in the whole thing that I struggled. No doubt it would have taken some time to get used to it all. But it had been two weeks now, and it was only becoming more and more difficult to handle being around him.
Kane wasn’t doing anything to make me uncomfortable.
