Emma thought about that.
Then she nodded.
“I don’t.”
“Neither do I.”
Three weeks later, the legal matter was settled.
My parents were allowed to remain in the house under the existing agreement, but they could no longer sell it, refinance it, or transfer ownership without my consent.
The money they had taken from the property accounts was accounted for.
The financial records were turned over to the appropriate professionals.
And the truth about my father was finally placed in my hands.
There were twelve letters.
I read every one.
The first began:
Dear Julia,
I don’t know if you’ll ever read this.
I had to stop there.
I cried for almost an hour.
Not because I suddenly knew everything about him.
But because I finally knew he had tried.
He had tried.
All those years, I had believed I wasn’t worth coming back for.
The truth was that someone had been trying to come back.
