I read faster.
Carl admitted that he never intended for me to discover his identity. He believed the safest way to honor his promise was to remain distant.
Then his i/llness changed everything.
Knowing he had little time left, he wanted only one thing: to leave this world certain that I finally understood I had always been loved and protected.
You may be angry with me, he wrote. You have every right to be. Protection without truth can become another kind of prison. I see that now.
My breath caught.
It was as though he had anticipated the exact shape of my fury.
I told myself that silence kept you safe. Perhaps, in the beginning, it did. Later, silence became a habit, and habits become walls. By the time I understood that, I no longer knew how to stand before you without the wall between us.
A tear struck the page.
