Silas looked toward the hidden room.
“Everybody waited to understand. Nobody told me anything.”
There was no accusation in his voice. Only exhaustion.
Daniel rubbed his thumb over the edge of the paper.
“You’re right.”
He took out his phone.
His first attempt at entering the number failed because his hands were shaking. He deleted it and started again.
The call rang once.
Then twice.
On the third ring, a woman answered.
“Hello?”
Daniel stood so quickly that the chair scraped the floor.
He turned away from the table, then seemed to realize that turning his back would not make the conversation private.
“Elena?”
Silence followed.
Not an empty silence.
A silence crowded with years.
“Daniel,” the woman said.
Evelyn covered her mouth.
Silas sat absolutely still.
Daniel gripped the phone.
“I received your letter.”
“I know this is sudden.”
“You’ve been writing to my mother for fourteen months.”
