I opened it.
The handwriting looked like mine.
The words were cruel.
They said I had changed my mind.
That I no longer wanted marriage.
That I had accepted the job and intended to leave without looking back.
That our relationship had meant less to me than my future.
I stared at the page.
“I never wrote this.”
“I know.”
“Then who did?”
Anna looked at me.
“Carol.”
I couldn’t speak.
For almost forty years, I had believed that Anna had abandoned me because she didn’t want to follow me.
And she had believed that I had abandoned her because I cared more about my career.
Neither of us had known the truth.
Carol had stood between us.
But why?
I looked at Anna.
“Why would she do something like that?”
Anna shook her head.
“Because she loved you.”
I almost laughed.
It wasn’t funny.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It didn’t make sense to me either.”
