For one horrible moment, I wondered if Thomas had left me something cruel.
Maybe he had discovered something.
Maybe he had regretted marrying me.
Maybe this letter was his final goodbye.
I couldn’t open it.
My fingers wouldn’t work.
Daniel pulled a chair from the back of the car.
“Sit down, Margaret.”
I sat.
He waited.
Finally, I tore the envelope open.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
I recognized Thomas’s handwriting immediately.
The first line said:
“Margaret, if you’re reading this, then my children did exactly what I was afraid they would do.”
My breath caught.
I kept reading.
“My love,
If you’re holding this letter, I’m gone.
And if you’re reading it from somewhere other than our home, then Rebecca and Michael have already done what I feared.
They’ve made you leave.
I’m sorry.
But don’t you dare believe for one second that you didn’t belong there.
You were my wife.
You were the woman I loved when I had nothing.
You were the woman I found again when I thought my life was almost over.
And you were the only person I trusted completely.”
Tears ran down my cheeks.
The attorney looked away.
I continued.
“I know my children think you married me for my money.
