Then I reached the line that broke something open inside me.
You kept asking who he was, but you never asked why I was scared.
I lowered the letter.
A memory came rushing back.
One night during her pregnancy, Teagan had walked into the kitchen.
“Mom, can I ask you something?”
I had been tired.
I didn’t even look up.
“If this is about avoiding the father question again, I can’t do this tonight, Tee.”
She stood there for several seconds.
Then she quietly said,
“Never mind.”
For ten years, I remembered that moment as my daughter shutting me out.
Now I wondered if I had been the one who closed the door.
I called Trudy.
She answered on the fourth ring.
“You kept this for ten years.”
“I know.”
“Don’t say that like it makes sense.”
She went quiet.
“Meet me,” I said.
