“No.”
For illustrative purposes only
Leo stood quickly. “Mom…”
“No.” I gripped the counter. “No, that’s not possible.”
“There’s more,” he said gently.
I looked at him.
“She says some letters were hidden. Some were thrown away… and some…” He glanced at the phone. “Some were kept in an attic box.”
A box. Real proof.
“I spent eighteen years believing he ran,” I whispered.
Just then, my mother walked in carrying dinner rolls.
“I brought the good ones!” she called—then stopped. “Heather? What’s wrong?”
I turned toward her, still holding the phone.
“He wrote.”
She frowned. “Who?”
“Andrew.”
My father appeared behind her. “What’s going on?”
I handed Mom the phone. She read. Dad leaned over her shoulder.
Her face changed first.
“Ted…” she whispered. “He wrote to her.”
Dad swore under his breath.
Leo looked between us. “You didn’t know?”
“If I had known he wanted to be involved,” my father snapped, “I would’ve gone to that house myself.”
“Ted—”
“No, Lucy. That woman let our daughter believe she was abandoned.”
His voice broke—and that was what finally shattered me.
My father, almost in tears in my kitchen, because someone had stolen years from us.
Leo wrapped his arms around me.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t know it would be like this.”
I cupped his face. “Don’t ever apologize for telling me the truth. I’m not mad at you.”
His eyes were wet.
“So… he didn’t leave?”
I shook my head, covering my mouth.
“No, baby. He was kept from us.”
Silence filled the room.
Then Leo said, “Gwen wants to meet us. She still has the box.”
That was enough.
By six, we were on the road—Leo and I in my car, my parents following behind like this had turned into a full family mission.
Leo reread Gwen’s messages over and over. I kept both hands on the wheel, afraid I might fall apart otherwise.
Gwen lived in a small white house with drooping flowerpots on the porch. My parents stayed in the truck.
She opened the door before we knocked.
She had Andrew’s mouth.
My knees nearly gave out.
“Heather?” she asked.
I nodded.
She burst into tears. “I’m so sorry.”
Then she looked at Leo. “Oh my God… you look just like him.”
Leo glanced at me, unsure.
I stepped forward and hugged her.
Inside, she didn’t waste time.
“The box is upstairs.”
“You really have them?” Leo asked.
