Chapter 5: The Letter Patrick Hid
The next morning, Luke was waiting in the kitchen before I woke.
I found him sitting at the table with two cups of coffee.
He looked exhausted.
“You didn't sleep,” I said.
“Neither did you.””
“I didn't say I had.””
He pushed one cup toward me.
“It's black.””
I stared at it.
“Patrick always made mine with milk.””
“I know.””
He added a small carton of milk from the refrigerator.
“Sorry.””
I poured some into the coffee.
For a moment, it felt almost normal.
Then Luke looked at the leather folder beside him.
“You said there was a letter.””
“Yes.””
“Can I read it?””
I nodded.
My fingers felt cold as I opened the folder.
The letter was folded inside a yellow envelope.
Patrick's handwriting covered the front.
*Elizabeth — Read this only if I am gone.*
Luke stared at it.
“Dad wrote that?””
“Yes.””
“When?””
“The week Anna disappeared.””
He looked at me.
“Why didn't you open it?””
“I did.””
“And?””
“I couldn't finish.””
I placed the letter on the table.
“You read it.””
Luke unfolded the paper.
His eyes moved slowly across the first paragraph.
Then he stopped.
“What?””
I didn't answer.
“Mom.””
I watched him continue.
His face changed.
“What is it?””
He looked up.
“Dad says Grandpa paid someone.””
My stomach tightened.
“Keep reading.””
Luke's voice became quieter.
“He says... I didn't give Anna away.”
I closed my eyes.
“I know.””
Luke kept reading.
“Your father made it look like I did.”
He stopped again.
“Dad says Grandpa threatened to have you declared unfit.””
“Yes.””
“But that's not all.””
He swallowed.
“There was another man involved.”
I looked at him.
“What man?””
“I don't know.””
He continued.
“His name is Richard Cole.”
The room seemed to go still.
Luke frowned.
“Who is Richard Cole?””
I shook my head.
“I don't know.””
“He says Richard worked with Grandpa.””
“Doing what?””
Luke read the next lines.
“Richard handled the papers. He arranged the custody transfer. He told the court that Elizabeth had abandoned Anna.”
My hand flew to my mouth.
“That wasn't true.””
“I know.””
Luke's voice shook.
“He says he lied.””
I stood and walked to the window.
For forty years, I had carried one sentence inside me:
You weren't a good enough mother.
Now I was learning that sentence had been built on a lie.
Luke continued reading.
“If anything happens to me, find Richard Cole.”
Then silence.
He stared at the final paragraph.
“What?””
I turned.
Luke looked terrified.
“What does it say?””
He read:
“Richard knows where Anna came from.”
I walked back to the table.
“What does that mean?””
“I don't know.””
He flipped the page.
There was nothing else.
“No address?””
“No.””
“Phone number?””
“No.””
“Anything?””
He shook the envelope.
A small folded photograph slipped out.
It landed face down.
Luke picked it up.
When he turned it over, his expression froze.
I knew the photograph before I saw it.
It was Anna.
Three years old.
Standing beside a car.
Behind her was a woman I had never seen.
And beside that woman stood a man.
Luke stared.
“Is that him?””
I looked closely.
The man was younger, perhaps in his thirties.
But there was no mistaking the face.
Richard Cole.
“I don't know,” I whispered.
Luke turned the photograph over.
Patrick had written something on the back.
*He promised he'd bring her home. He never did.*
Luke sat down heavily.
“Mom.””
“Yes?””
“Dad knew she was alive.””
“Yes.””
“He spent forty years looking for her.””
I nodded.
“And he never told me.””
“He wanted to protect you.””
“From what?””
I looked at the letter.
“From the family.””
Luke rubbed his face.
“That's not protection.””
“No.””
“It was a lie.””
“Yes.””
He stood abruptly.
“I need to know everything.””
“You will.””
“Today.””
“We're going to see Anna.””
He grabbed his jacket.
I stopped him.
“Luke.””
He turned.
“There's something else.””
“What?””
“Before we go, you need to understand something.””
He waited.
“Anna may hate me.””
“She doesn't.””
“You don't know that.””
“She called you.””
“She called because she wants answers.””
“Then give them to her.””
I nodded.
“You're right.””
We left the house at ten.
The rain had stopped.
The sky was pale and clean.
For the first time in months, I walked down the driveway carrying my own suitcase.
Luke carried the leather folder.
We drove for nearly two hours.
Neither of us spoke much.
Finally, Luke said, “Did Dad love you?””
I looked out the window.
“Yes.””
“Then why did he let Grandpa do that?””
“Fear makes people weak.””
“Would you have done it?””
“No.””
He was quiet.
Then he said, “I did.””
I turned toward him.
“What?””
“I let Brenda decide things for me.””
“That isn't the same.””
“It feels the same.””
I placed my hand over his.
He didn't pull away.
“You have a chance to do something your father never did.””
“What?””
“Tell the truth.””
He nodded.
We arrived at a small brick house just after noon.
A woman stood waiting on the porch.
Dark hair.
Green eyes.
A faint scar beneath her chin.
She looked older than the photograph.
But I knew her immediately.
“Anna.””
She covered her mouth.
“Mom.””
I walked toward her.
Neither of us moved for several seconds.
Then she stepped down the stairs.
I reached for her.
She fell into my arms.
I held my daughter for the first time in forty years.
She smelled like lavender.
Her shoulders shook against mine.
“I thought you didn't want me,” she whispered.
“I thought you were dead.””
“I was told you gave me away.””
“I was told you died.””
We held each other tighter.
Luke stood a few feet away, crying silently.
Anna finally pulled back.
She looked at him.
“You're Luke.””
He nodded.
“I've seen pictures.””
“I've never seen yours.””
She smiled through tears.
“You look like Dad.””
Luke laughed softly.
“Everyone says that.””
Anna touched his shoulder.
“You have his eyes.””
Then her expression changed.
“Come inside.””
The house was warm.
Books filled the shelves.
Family photographs covered the walls.
I saw pictures of Anna as a child.
Graduation.
College.
Wedding.
Two children.
A life I had missed.
I touched one photograph.
“Your children?””
She nodded.
“My daughter is twenty-two. My son is nineteen.””
I smiled.
“You're a grandmother.””
“Yes.””
I looked at the photograph again.
“How many birthdays did I miss?””
Anna's eyes filled.
“Forty.””
I lowered my hand.
Luke looked at the leather folder.
“We found something.””
Anna stared at it.
“What?””
He placed the letter on the table.
“Dad's letter.””
Her hand trembled.
“Where did you find that?””
“Mom had it.””
Anna looked at me.
“You kept it?””
“Yes.””
“For forty years?””
“Yes.””
She sat down.
“Then you need to know something.””
I sat beside her.
“What?””
She looked at Luke.
“Richard Cole found me.””
Luke leaned forward.
“When?””
“Six months ago.””
My heart stopped.
“Six months?””
She nodded.
“Right after Dad died.””
Luke looked at me.
“That can't be a coincidence.””
Anna shook her head.
“It wasn't.””
She reached beneath the coffee table and pulled out a second folder.
Inside was a stack of photocopied documents.
“Richard contacted me because he knew Patrick was dead.””
“Why?””
“He said he wanted to make things right.””
I stared at her.
“Did you believe him?””
“No.””
“Then why did you meet him?””
“Because he told me something I couldn't ignore.””
She pulled out a photograph.
It showed Patrick standing beside another woman.
Not me.
Luke leaned closer.
“Who is that?””
Anna looked at me.
“She was my biological mother.””
I felt the room tilt.
“What?””
Anna nodded.
“That's why Grandpa took me.””
I couldn't breathe.
Luke stared at the photograph.
“Mom, what is she saying?””
Anna's eyes filled with tears.
“Patrick wasn't my biological father.””
I looked at the photograph again.
The woman beside him was young.
Beautiful.
And strangely familiar.
Anna whispered, “Your father adopted me.””
Luke's face went pale.
“Then why did Grandpa care so much?””
Anna looked at him.
“Because I wasn't just a child he wanted to control.””
She opened the folder.
“I'm the heir to something your grandfather spent forty years trying to hide.””
And before she could explain, someone knocked hard on the front door.
Three times.
Anna's face went white.
May you like
She whispered one name.
“Richard.””
