Chapter 14
Valerie waited three months before asking to see Harper.
I said no.
She asked again two weeks later.
No.
Then she stopped asking me and wrote Harper a card.
I did not deliver it.
Not yet.
The card stayed in my drawer until Harper noticed it herself while looking for stickers.
“What this?”
I looked at the envelope.
“Aunt Valerie wrote you.”
Harper’s face changed.
“You want it?”
She thought.
“No.”
I put it back.
That simple.
Two weeks later she asked:
“Still there?”
“Yes.”
“Read?”
“Do you want me to?”
She nodded.
The card was short.
No excuses.
I scared you because I was angry at your father and angry about things that happened long before you were born. None of that was your responsibility. I am sorry.
Good.
No request for forgiveness.
No “but.”
Harper listened.
Then asked:
“She still mad?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can be mad far away.”
I smiled.
“Yes.”
She liked that answer.
So did I.
Valerie received no reply.
But Daniel told me she seemed relieved simply to know the card had been read.
That was enough.
May you like
Consequences do not need endless cruelty.
Boundaries work better when they are clear.
