**Only Benjamin had called me Belle. **
**—Is it okay? **
**—Yes. **
** Edward's expression became heavy. **
**—His health is getting worse. **
**Behind Benjamin’s familiar traits, I saw another truth. **
**Edward was not only giving hope to a stranger. **
**He was preparing to lose his father. **
**—We can take her home,” Wren offered softly. **
**Edward closed the lid of the blue box. **
**—You don’t have to decide today. **
**Wren looked at me. **
**—No? **
**Place the ring carefully inside again. **
**—I have spent 62 years talking to Benjamin as if he could still hear me. **
**Even though my hands were still shaking, my voice had become firm. **
**—If you are close enough to respond, I will not wait another day. **
**I looked straight at Edward. **
**—Take me with him. **
**During the trip, I asked him if Benjamin had ever spoken about me. **
**—Remember emotions better than details,” Edward replied. Sometimes he talked about a yellow girl whose hands were shaking. **
**—Mine,” I whispered. **
**—The night before he left, I wore yellow because he said he looked like walking sun and that made him feel brave. **
**—Was he brave? **
**Edward smiled faintly. **
**—My father always said that courage meant being afraid but moving on anyway. **
**I smiled through the pain. **
**—That stole from me. **
**For a brief second, Edward looked so much like Benjamin that I had to turn to the window. **
**Me encontré imaginando la vida que podríamos haber compartido, y el hijo que nunca tuvimos.**
**Then I forced myself to ask the question I had been avoiding. **
**—Did you get married? **
** Edward's hands were squeezed around the wheel. **
**—Yes. **
**The only word struck louder than I expected. **
**—Who was she? **
**—My mother helped him recover after he returned. **
**—Yes. **
**—Did she know about me? **
**—I knew there had been someone before the war. He never knew his name. **
**—Did you love her? **
**Edward took several moments to respond. **
**—Yes. **
**Benjamin had survived, built another life and loved another woman. **
**Instead of feeling angry, I imagined a wounded young soldier trying to rebuild himself after losing almost everything he knew. **
**—Is she still alive? **
**—He passed away five years ago. **
**—I'm sorry. **
**—She was a good woman. **
**The words came out with difficulty. **
**That's how I knew they were true. **
**A staff member greeted us outside Benjamin's room. **
**—Puede que no la reconozca, Isobel. Por favor, no lo presione. Si se angustia, tendremos que terminar la visita.**
