The card inside read: “The mother-daughter photo we never got.”

It referred to the wedding picture she had once imagined, not a claim that Elena had never been photographed with her before leaving.

Chloe had wanted that picture long after she stopped expecting it.

I looked at the frame.

“If she behaves, we don’t open it.”

“Agreed.”

I put the lid back.

That night, I replied to Elena with the practical details Chloe had authorized.