Marc, her next-door neighbor, handsome and affable friend, and now her attorney, came out to the reception area and ushered her into his office.

“Read this, Royce, before we get into the will.” He handed her a sealed envelope and his monogrammed silver letter opener.

She glanced from the envelope to Marc’s inscrutable face. He’d remained beside her chair, seemed to be waiting for her to open the letter. “Right now?”

She looked back at the envelope in her hand. Felt its smooth vellum surface. Her name on the front, in Eddy’s handwriting. And underlined. A farewell letter from Eddy. Could she bear to read it?

Marc patted her shoulder and took the chair next to her. “Yes, these legal routines are hard, Royce. I’m here to help.”

She straightened her back. When she turned the letter over and thumbed the sealed flap, she felt a faint wrinkle in the heavy paper.

Frowning, she looked over at Marc. “Eddy sealed the envelope after he wrote the letter?”

“Yes. Even I haven’t read it, Royce.”

She nodded. With effort, she overcame her emotional resistance and slowly slid the bright edge of the letter opener under the flap. She unfolded the sheet of paper covered with Eddy’s careful script, as familiar as her own handwriting. She felt a sharp contraction in her chest, then her heart settled into a slow, painful beat.

“My darling Royce,

If you’re reading this letter, it means I haven’t had the guts to tell you this myself.”