I sat down again.
For forty-one years, I had believed Douglas had forgotten my birthday, my voice, and the promise beneath the bleachers.
He had remembered everything.
He had simply been kept silent.
“Why are they at the cottage?”
“My mother stored them there after my father died. She bought the place with money she had inherited from her sister. She went there when she wanted to be alone.”
“And you never read them?”
“I read the first one.”
“Why only one?”
“Because I knew if I read the rest, I would have to decide whether to destroy my family.”
I studied his face.
“Did you love Elaine?”
“Yes.”
“Did you love me?”
“Yes.”
“Those answers are supposed to be impossible.”
“They weren’t.”
I looked at the ring still resting in my palm.
“What happened to the ring after all these years?”
“I kept it.”
“In the box?”
“No. In my desk.”
