PART 2 — THE SECRET CAROL BURIED FOR FORTY YEARS
Anna closed the door behind me.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
I followed her into a quiet living room filled with old photographs, books, and the faint smell of coffee.
She pointed toward a chair.
“Please sit.”
I sat down.
Anna remained standing.
Her hands trembled slightly.
“I don’t know how much Carol told you about me,” she said.
“Nothing.”
Anna looked at me carefully.
“Did she ever tell you that we met?”
“No.”
“She never told you that I came looking for you?”
“No.”
Anna lowered her eyes.
“I thought so.”
My heart began pounding.
“When was this?”
“About thirty-seven years ago.”
I stared at her.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It does.”
She walked toward an old cabinet and pulled out a small wooden box.
Then she placed it on the table between us.
“I kept this all these years because I couldn’t bring myself to destroy it.”
She opened the box.
Inside was a yellowed envelope.
My name was written across the front.
My handwriting.
My name.
But I had never seen it before.
I reached for it.
“What is this?”
“A letter you wrote to me.”
I looked at Anna.
“I never sent you a letter.”
“You did.”
“No. I would remember.”
Anna shook her head.
“You were leaving for another state. You told me you wanted to marry me. I was terrified. I thought you would eventually regret choosing me, so I asked for time.”
I nodded slowly.
That part was true.
“I waited for your answer,” Anna continued. “But before I could give it to you, you left.”
“I thought you rejected me.”
“I know.”
She pushed the envelope toward me.
“I tried to tell you otherwise.”
My fingers trembled as I opened it.
The letter was dated three days after I had moved.
I began reading.
Anna,
I don’t know why you haven’t answered me.
Maybe you’re right. Maybe we are too young.
But I need you to know that I meant every word I said.
If there is even a small chance you want me, I’ll come back.
Just tell me.
I stopped.
My vision blurred.
“I never received this.”
“I know.”
“Who stopped it?”
Anna stared at me.
“Carol.”
The room suddenly felt unbearably small.
I looked up.
“What?”
Anna swallowed.
“Carol intercepted it.”
“No.”
“She did.”
“You’re wrong.”
“I wish I were.”
Anna opened another drawer.
Inside were several photographs.
She placed them on the table.
The first showed Carol when she was young.
The second showed Carol standing beside Anna.
The third showed the two women outside a college building.
I recognized the building immediately.
My college.
I slowly looked at Anna.
“You knew Carol?”
“She came to see me.”
“When?”
“After you left.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“Because she wanted to know whether I intended to come after you.”
I stared at her.
“And what did you tell her?”
“That I loved you.”
Anna’s voice cracked.
“I told her I was going to find you.”
My hands clenched.
“What happened?”
Anna looked toward the window.
“She begged me not to.”
“Why?”
“Because she said you were happy.”
“I wasn’t.”
“I know that now.”
She looked back at me.
“But at the time, she convinced me that you had chosen to move on.”
I felt something cold travel through my chest.
“What did she tell you?”
Anna hesitated.
“She told me you had met someone else.”
“Who?”
“Her.”
Silence.
I couldn’t breathe.
“She told me you had fallen in love with her,” Anna continued. “She said you had written to her and asked her to wait for you.”
I shook my head.
“That never happened.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you believe her?”
Anna looked down.
“Because she showed me a letter.”
“What letter?”
“A letter supposedly written by you.”
My blood ran cold.
“What did it say?”
“That you regretted proposing to me. That you wanted to start a new life. That you were already falling for Carol.”
I stood up.
“Carol forged it?”
Anna didn’t answer.
She didn’t need to.
I turned away.
For thirty-six years, I had believed Anna had rejected me.
For thirty-six years, I had believed Carol had simply become the woman who entered my life after my first love walked away.
But now…
I wasn’t sure what part of my life had ever been true.
