Harold handed Christopher one more thing.
A sealed white envelope. With his name on it. In Gertrude’s crooked handwriting.
Christopher.
He opened it right there. He read it.
I watched his face while he read it. I watched it crumple. Slowly. Like a paper bag in the rain.
I never read that letter. It wasn’t mine to read.
But when he finished, he set it down on Harold’s desk, and he put his face in his hands, and my husband of twenty years cried like I hadn’t seen him cry since his father’s funeral.
I didn’t comfort him.
I wanted to. Twenty years of habit is hard to break.
But I didn’t.
After a long time, he looked up at me. His eyes were red.
“Are you going to report me?” he asked. “To the police?”
I’d spent three days thinking about that question. Lying awake in Gertrude’s bed in her cottage. Reading her letter over and over.
You’ll know what to do. You always do.
“No,” I said.
He let out a breath.
“But you’re going to pay it back,” I said. “Every dollar. To your mother’s estate. Harold’s drawn up an agreement. Twenty-four months. If you miss one payment, Harold files the report with the county prosecutor. Your mother already signed the complaint. It’s sitting in his safe.”
Christopher looked at Harold.
Harold nodded.
“And you’re going to sign the divorce papers,” I said. “This week. Without a fight. The house on Marlton Pike is yours. I don’t want it. I’m keeping my car, my retirement account, and nothing else.”
“Ros. Please. Can’t we talk about this?”
“We talked for twenty years, Christopher. You just weren’t on the call.”
He signed the repayment agreement that afternoon.
He signed the divorce papers on Monday.
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