That was why I loved her.
She didn’t ask what was in the box.
She asked whether I wanted company opening it.
“No.”
She nodded.
“Call me after.”
“I will.”
“Even if you discover you’re secretly the princess of Michigan.”
“That is not a thing.”
“You don’t know.
You haven’t opened the box.”
I laughed.
And for the first time since the garage, I felt like myself.
The key turned.
Just once.
A tiny metallic click.
Harlan stood near the window.
Mara sat on an archive stool.
Neither came closer.
I lifted the lid.
There was no money inside.
No diamonds.
No impossible inheritance.
There were letters.
Dozens of them.
Some addressed to June.
Some to Eleanor.
All tied with faded blue ribbon.
Beneath them was a thick folder stamped with the seal of the Meridian Foundation.
And underneath that, a photograph.
I picked up the photograph first.
