“What woman?”
“I assumed she was a family friend.”
I immediately remembered the unexplained trips and papers I had seen around the house.
“Do you know her name?”
The nurse shook her head.
For days, I couldn’t stop wondering who she was and why Jack had kept their meetings from me.
Then, one afternoon, someone knocked on my door.
It was the woman.
“My name is Mara,” she said. “Jack asked me to give you this.”
She handed me an envelope.
“What is it?”
“He asked me to wait until after he was gone.”
I opened it with trembling hands.
Jack’s handwriting filled the first page.
Claire,
I’m sorry you’re learning this without me.
There is a little boy named Ethan.
You don’t owe him anything. If you want to stop here, you can.
But if you decide to find him, you’ll understand why I couldn’t walk away.
