Faith remained against Mark’s chest.
Emily watched him carefully.
“You don’t have to open it now.”
Mark gave a humorless smile.
“I’ve apparently spent years not opening things I should have.”
Emily said nothing.
He picked up the envelope.
The seal broke easily.
Inside were three handwritten pages.
Mark began reading silently.
His expression changed before he reached the end of the first paragraph.
Emily noticed his shoulders tighten.
Then fall.
“What does it say?”
Mark stared at the page.
“He apologized.”
“For what?”
Mark looked toward the window.
“My father left my mother once.”
Emily knew Thomas and Margaret had experienced difficult years early in their marriage.
She had never known details.
“When?”
“I was eight.”
Mark shifted Faith carefully.
“He moved into an apartment for three months.”
Emily sat opposite him.
“He came back?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know why he left?”
Mark shook his head.
