“I almost didn’t.”
“I’m glad you did.”
“Did your father tell you about me?”
“Not until I was twenty-one.”
“Why then?”
“Because I asked why he never wore his wedding ring.”
I glanced at him.
“He stopped wearing it?”
“After my mother died, he put it in a drawer. He never dated anyone. He kept working, visited my sister and me, and spent weekends at the lake.”
“The cottage.”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever go there?”
“Once. He wouldn’t let us inside the upstairs room.”
“Why?”
Lucas gave me a curious look.
“I assumed it was because of your letters.”
The elevator doors opened.
I pressed the button for the lobby, then turned back.
“Lucas?”
“Yes?”
“Did your grandmother leave anything else?”
He hesitated.
“There was a second envelope.”
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean?”
“It was in the box when Dad found it. He read it, then told me to put it back. But when I returned the next day, it was gone.”
