“Then why,” Silas said slowly, turning the envelope over in his hands, “did I never get a single one of hers?”

“Because we kept thinking we’d send them once things felt more settled,” Carol said, the words tumbling out now, a confession six years overdue.

“Just a little longer, we kept saying.

And then a little longer.

And then so much time had gone by that admitting we’d held them all that time — admitting what we’d done to both of you — it became too frightening to face.

So we didn’t.