“I was with him at the end, Julia.”
Her expression shifted — it wasn’t pity or sympathy. It was just knowing…
“Richard had cancer. Pancreatic cancer, and it was stage four. He refused treatment. He didn’t want anyone to see him that way.”
“He told me he was cheating on me,” I said. My stomach turned.
“I know.”
“You knew?!” I stepped back. My breath caught.
“He told me he was cheating on me.”
“He asked us not to tell you. He said you’d stay,” Charlotte said, her voice low. “And he couldn’t bear what staying would do to you.”
“And that was a bad thing?”
My throat tightened.
“He didn’t just ask,” Charlotte said, and her fingers tightened on the strap of her purse. “He put it in writing.”
“He asked us not to tell you.”
She pulled out a single page. It was creased like it had been carried a hundred times. At the top was the hospital letterhead. Below it, a sentence in clean, typed ink:
“DO NOT CONTACT JULIA UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.”
My name looked foreign on the page. The date beside it was five years old. His signature sat at the bottom like a final decision.
**
“DO NOT CONTACT JULIA UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.”
I didn’t open it at the church. I tucked the envelope into my bag and left without saying goodbye to anyone.
When I got home, the air felt different — like the walls were holding their breath. I changed out of my dress, pulled my hair back, and made tea just to keep my hands busy.
Then I walked out to the back porch.
It was cool outside; the kind of still night that made you want to whisper.
