For years I’d thought I had done something wrong. That I was difficult. Selfish. A bad daughter.

My only mistake was arriving first.

Harvey took out a bundle of old envelopes tied with a blue ribbon. My name was on every one of them, in careful handwriting. Sadie Davis.

“Your grandfather wrote these for you. He asked me to give you one on every birthday. I couldn’t, because Gregory threatened to ruin my life if I came near you.”

I touched the first envelope with shaking fingers. My grandfather had loved me before I even knew what rejection felt like.

“I kept them safe for twenty-six years.”