Carl asleep on a sofa while I lay curled against him.
In every picture, he looked at me with an affection deeper than anything described in his letter.
He had not simply watched over me.
He had known me.
I lifted the yellow blanket from the chest. Beneath it was a small silver bracelet engraved with my name.
Then I found a birth certificate.
My eyes moved across the page.
Child: Claire Rose Bennett
Not Morgan.
Bennett.
My mother’s name was listed as Evelyn Grace Bennett.
My father’s name was listed as Lucas Daniel Bennett.
And under the line marked informant, written in faded blue ink, was another name.
Carl Jonathan Bennett. Brother of the father.
The cabin tilted around me.
I grabbed the table.
“Carl was my uncle.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
A sound escaped me—half sob, half gasp.
He had married me.
My uncle had married me.
