The neighborhood association president, Mrs. Collins, picked it up before it could fall to the ground.
She glanced at the envelope.
“Vanessa, is this the note you told me about last month?”
The yard went quiet.
Vanessa froze.
Mrs. Collins looked uncomfortable.
“You said Irvin had been sending you secret messages and that you were waiting for him to admit he had feelings for you.”
Irvin stared at her.
“I have never sent Vanessa a message of that kind.”
Mrs. Collins looked at him.
“I believe you. She showed me an envelope and said you had been writing to her.”
Vanessa snatched the note from the table.
“That’s not what happened!”
I took a slow breath.
“Then perhaps you can explain it.”
She turned toward me, furious.
“You don’t know anything about what goes on between us!”
Irvin stepped beside me.
“There is no ‘between us,’ Vanessa. There never has been.”
