And why was she holding our daughter?
I turned the photograph over.
There was a handwritten message on the back.
“Forgive me, Rose. She can’t know.”
I read it twice.
Then a third time.
Rose.
For twenty years, Richard had told me the woman on his chest was imaginary.
Now I had a name.
I searched through the rest of the things hidden behind the panel. At the back of the old address book, I found a handwritten phone number beside the name Rose.
I stared at it for several minutes.
I knew I probably shouldn’t call.
But I also knew I couldn’t simply put everything back and pretend I hadn’t found it.
So I dialed.
The phone rang.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Finally, an older woman answered.
People & Society
“Hello?”
My voice almost disappeared.
“Is this Rose?”
There was a long pause.
“Yes.”
“My name is Evelyn. I’m Richard’s wife.”
Silence.
Then I heard a quiet breath.
“Richard?”
“No,” I said. “It’s Evelyn.”
Another pause followed.
Then Rose said something that made my heart sink.
“I wondered when you would find me.”
I asked her about the photograph.
I asked why she had been holding Claire.
I asked why Richard had written her name.
Baby & Pet Names
Rose became emotional.
“Evelyn,” she said, “there’s something you need to understand.”
“What?”
“I don’t think I can explain this properly over the phone.”
She gave me the address of a small diner in the next town.
“Please come,” she said. “I’ll tell you everything.”
I arrived a short time later.
Rose was sitting alone near the window.
She had silver hair and gentle eyes. She looked nervous, but there was something familiar about her face.
Even after all those years, I recognized her immediately.
She was the woman from Richard’s tattoo.
I sat across from her and placed the photograph on the table.
