The Name He Was Never Supposed to Hear
Chapter 02 - The Name He Was Never Supposed to Hear
Thomas reached for the photograph, but Ethan pulled it back.
“No.”
The single word stopped him.
Ethan slipped the picture closer to himself.
“My mother said nobody touches this until Marisol reads the letter.”
Marisol's eyes moved toward Thomas.
“You knew Lily?”
Thomas did not answer quickly enough.
That hesitation told her everything.
“Thomas?”
He looked suddenly older.
“Not here.”
Marisol almost laughed.
For twenty years, she had believed her sister had simply disappeared. Lily had stopped calling. Stopped writing. Never returned for Christmas, funerals, birthdays, or the birth of Marisol's daughter.
And now the man Marisol had worked beside for eleven years was staring at Lily's photograph like he had just seen a ghost.
“You're going to answer me.”
Thomas glanced at Ethan.
Then at the envelope.
“Please,” he said quietly. “Not in front of the entire terminal.”
Marisol locked her computer screen and led them into a small employee conference room.
Ethan kept the duffel beside his chair.
He did not remove his jacket.
Marisol noticed those things.
People who felt safe took off their coats.
Ethan slid the envelope toward her.
Written across the front in Lily's handwriting were five words.
For Mari. When Ethan arrives.
Marisol's throat tightened.
She had not heard anyone call her Mari since she was twenty-six.
She carefully broke the seal.
The first sentence made her cover her mouth.
Dear Mari, if Ethan is standing in front of you, then I didn't get the chance to come home myself.
Marisol stopped reading.
“Is she…”
Ethan stared at the floor.
“She died three weeks ago.”
Marisol closed her eyes.
Twenty years of anger suddenly had nowhere to go.
Thomas sat across from them, motionless.
Ethan finally looked at him.
“My mother told me there was one question I was allowed to ask you.”
Thomas went pale.
May you like
Ethan's voice remained calm.
“Did you know she was pregnant when you left her?”
