“What if a card came anyway?” I said.
Mark looked up. “What do you mean?”
“What if I wrote one?”
He stared at me.
“Laura. That’s… we can’t lie to her.”
“It’s not a lie,” I said. “Not exactly. It’s just… a card. Telling her that she’s loved. That somebody’s thinking about her. Isn’t that true?”
“But it’s not from Crystal.”
“No,” I said. “But Hannah doesn’t need it to be from Crystal. She needs to know that her mother didn’t forget her. And maybe someday Crystal will be ready to send one herself. And until then…”
I didn’t finish.
Mark was quiet for a very long time.
“If she ever finds out,” he said, “she might hate us both.”
“I know.”
“And the postmark. She’s smart. She’ll notice if it comes from here.”
“My sister lives in Tucson,” I said. “That’s Arizona. Same as Crystal.”
