Chapter 14 - Robert’s Last Letter
Months later, I finally sorted through Robert’s old desk.
I had avoided it since discovering his investigation.
Inside a book on accounting standards—because my husband had apparently believed no burglar would ever voluntarily open such a thing—I found an envelope.
Evelyn
My hands trembled.
The letter wasn’t dramatic.
That was Robert.
He wrote that he had concerns about Grant’s finances.
He apologized for investigating without telling me.
Then came the line that broke me.
If I’m wrong, you’ll tease me for being suspicious. If I’m right, I know you’ll know what to do. You always do.
I sat on the floor.
Claire found me there.
She read the letter.
Then sat beside me.
For a while, we cried.
Eventually Claire laughed.
“Dad hid evidence inside an accounting textbook?”
“Apparently.”
“That’s the most Dad thing imaginable.”
We laughed harder.
Grief changed shape that afternoon.
For years, Robert’s absence had felt like an empty chair.
Now, strangely, it felt like he had reached through time and placed one final hand on our shoulders.
Not to save us.
We had saved ourselves.
May you like
Just to remind us we had always been a team.
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