The drive to the cottage took forty minutes.<\/p>\n
Nobody spoke much.<\/p>\n
Michael drove. Whit sat beside him with the folders balanced on his knees. Diane and Ross sat in the back with me, separated by the quiet that had grown between them after Frank's letters were read.<\/p>\n
Outside the windows, the town slowly disappeared.<\/p>\n
The streets became narrower. Houses gave way to fields, then trees. Evening light stretched across the road in long bands of gold and shadow.<\/p>\n
I kept one hand in my coat pocket.<\/p>\n
My fingers touched the brass key.<\/p>\n
It was heavier than it looked.<\/p>\n
Every few minutes, I found myself wondering what Frank had wanted me to discover there.<\/p>\n
The cottage had been part of our lives without my knowing it.<\/p>\n
That thought bothered me more than Laura herself.<\/p>\n
I had trusted Frank.<\/p>\n
Not blindly.<\/p>\n
But completely.<\/p>\n
And now every memory seemed to contain a second meaning I had never noticed.<\/p>\n
Michael turned onto a gravel road.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cottage appeared between two rows of old maple trees.<\/p>\n
It was smaller than I remembered from the photograph Frank had once shown me.<\/p>\n
White siding.<\/p>\n
Green shutters.<\/p>\n
A narrow porch.<\/p>\n
Smoke curled from the chimney.<\/p>\n
Someone was home.<\/p>\n
I felt my chest tighten.<\/p>\n
Michael parked beside the house.<\/p>\n
Nobody moved.<\/p>\n
Then he turned around.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore we go inside, there's something you should know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cLaura doesn't know we're coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diane frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Frank never told her he had died.\u201d<\/p>\n
My breath caught.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe instructed the people who handled her care not to tell her until he was certain everything would continue without him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut she has a right to know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe does.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Frank was afraid the news would make her believe she had lost the last person responsible for her.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at the cottage.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas he still visiting her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe stopped allowing him inside years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen how did he know what she needed?\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael looked at the house.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had people checking on her.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
That sounded like Frank.<\/p>\n
Even when he could not fix something himself, he found a way to keep it from breaking.<\/p>\n
We got out of the car.<\/p>\n
The air smelled of damp leaves and wood smoke.<\/p>\n
Michael walked to the porch.<\/p>\n
I followed.<\/p>\n
Before he could knock, the door opened.<\/p>\n
An older woman stood there.<\/p>\n
She was thin, almost fragile, with silver hair pulled into a loose braid.<\/p>\n
Her eyes moved over Michael.<\/p>\n
Then Whit.<\/p>\n
Then Diane.<\/p>\n
Then Ross.<\/p>\n
Finally they stopped on me.<\/p>\n
For several seconds, she said nothing.<\/p>\n
Then she whispered my name.<\/p>\n
\u201cEileen?\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart stopped.<\/p>\n
I had never met her.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Laura gripped the doorframe.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrank talked about you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I couldn't speak.<\/p>\n
She smiled faintly.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said you would come one day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael lowered his eyes.<\/p>\n
I turned toward him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew Frank expected this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laura stepped aside.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome in.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cottage was warm.<\/p>\n
There were books everywhere.<\/p>\n
A small radio played softly near the kitchen.<\/p>\n
Photographs covered one wall.<\/p>\n
I stopped when I saw one of them.<\/p>\n
It was Frank.<\/p>\n
Not young.<\/p>\n
Not old.<\/p>\n
Somewhere in between.<\/p>\n
He was standing on the porch of the cottage holding a bag of groceries.<\/p>\n
He was looking toward the camera with the same expression he had worn when he thought I wasn't watching.<\/p>\n
I touched the frame.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long ago?\u201d<\/p>\n
Laura answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cEight years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did he come here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo fix the roof.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe repaired the roof himself?\u201d<\/p>\n
Laura smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe tried.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael almost laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe fell off the ladder.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing serious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laura's smile widened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe broke a flowerpot.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was the first time anyone had laughed since Frank's funeral.<\/p>\n
It was small.<\/p>\n
Almost inappropriate.<\/p>\n
But it made the room feel human again.<\/p>\n
Laura motioned toward the sofa.<\/p>\n
\u201cSit.\u201d<\/p>\n
We did.<\/p>\n
She lowered herself into a chair near the window.<\/p>\n
Her hands trembled slightly.<\/p>\n
Diane watched her.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know Dad was married?\u201d<\/p>\n
Laura looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know about us?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ross looked surprised.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
Laura glanced at Michael.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrank told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She smiled sadly.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrank never told anyone everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt something in my chest loosen.<\/p>\n
That sounded exactly like him.<\/p>\n
Laura looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe loved you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I lowered my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don't.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked back at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was terrified of losing you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room became silent.<\/p>\n
Laura continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe believed loving me and loving you were two different things.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe loved me because I was part of his past.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her fingers tightened around the armrest.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe loved you because you became his life.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt tears burning behind my eyes.<\/p>\n
Diane looked down.<\/p>\n
Laura noticed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are Diane.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diane nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrank was proud of you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diane's face crumpled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't deserve that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laura looked at her for a long moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen become someone who does.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diane began crying.<\/p>\n
Ross stared at the floor.<\/p>\n
Laura turned toward him.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you are Ross.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father worried about you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ross swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cConstantly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn't trust me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laura smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe trusted you enough to leave you a path back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ross looked away.<\/p>\n
Michael quietly placed a folder on the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cLaura, there are some things we need to explain.\u201d<\/p>\n
She shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael stopped.<\/p>\n
Laura looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst, I need to tell Eileen why Frank bought this place.\u201d<\/p>\n
I leaned forward.<\/p>\n
She pointed toward a narrow hallway.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of that hall is a room Frank never let me enter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he said it belonged to the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is inside?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael looked at Whit.<\/p>\n
Whit seemed surprised.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrank never told you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laura looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me only that if Eileen ever came here, I should give her the key.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother key?\u201d<\/p>\n
Laura nodded.<\/p>\n
She reached beneath a cushion and pulled out a small wooden box.<\/p>\n
She opened it.<\/p>\n
Inside was a silver key.<\/p>\n
I took it.<\/p>\n
It was cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it open?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe room.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stood.<\/p>\n
The hallway suddenly seemed much longer than it had before.<\/p>\n
I walked slowly.<\/p>\n
Behind me, I heard Diane whisper my name.<\/p>\n
I kept going.<\/p>\n
At the end of the hallway was a plain wooden door.<\/p>\n
No lock was visible.<\/p>\n
I inserted the silver key into a small brass opening hidden beneath the handle.<\/p>\n
It turned.<\/p>\n
The door opened.<\/p>\n
And I stopped breathing.<\/p>\n
The room was filled with boxes.<\/p>\n
Dozens of them.<\/p>\n
Each one labeled in Frank's handwriting.<\/p>\n
Some had dates.<\/p>\n
Some had names.<\/p>\n
One had mine.<\/p>\n
I stepped inside.<\/p>\n
Michael appeared behind me.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrank started preparing this room almost twenty years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn't answer.<\/p>\n
Because Laura did.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knew one day you would need the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
The drive to the cottage took forty minutes. Nobody spoke much. Michael drove. Whit sat beside him with the folders balanced on his knees. Diane and Ross sat in the … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7331"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7366,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7331\/revisions\/7366"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}