neighbor arrived a few days later, but instead of opening it by herself, Cindy suggested they get together at her house for lunch the next day.
Bree had stopped by the gallery to say hello the day before, looking thinner than ever, and seeing Cindy’s worried face said she was doing okay. She reminded Cindy that they had all agreed to give her time to heal, her way.
However, that didn’t stop Cindy from worrying. She and Judith had met that morning at the coffeehouse, the way they used to before Paul’s letter arrived. They tried to pretend that everything was back to normal, but they both knew it wasn’t.
It was Judith who finally said that she was worried about the package.
“Maybe it’s nothing,” Cindy said.
“Well, why the secrecy? Why not just tell us what’s in it?” Judith responded, thinking about her conversation with Bruce that morning. She had called him to tell him about the package, and after a long pause, he had asked her to call him back after they opened it.
“Why can’t you just tell me everything, Bruce,” she said, not expecting him to but wishing the whole secrecy thing was over. Although Bree told them she was moving on, something still didn’t feel right. She just couldn’t put her finger on what it was.
A few hours later, everyone arrived at Cindy’s for the lunch that Marsha had prepared. The package lay on the dining room table, and while they ate and chattered about the weather, they all tried to pretend that it wasn’t there.
Finally, Bree put her sandwich down, having taken only a few bites, and said, “Please, just open it. It’s probably nothing anyway, but I can’t stand it anymore.”
Everyone laughed, and Judith gave the package to Bree to open. Bree opened it slowly, hoping against hope that it was something that would ease the pain that she felt and was doing her best to hide from her friends.
A note from the neighbor lay on top explaining that the rental’s owner had arrived earlier than expected and found these papers and pictures when cleaning out the house. She had stopped him from throwing them in the trash. She had told him she knew someone who might want them.
“Maybe they will help Paul’s wife, somehow,” the note said.
“What does this mean?” Bree asked, looking up from the box. She put a small stack of pictures and a folder on the table.
Judith took the stack of pictures and spread them out. “It looks like she had a daughter?”
“So cute,” Marsha said, picking up a picture of a little girl with long, dark hair and brown eyes.
“How could she have a daughter?” Bree whispered.
“Oh,” Judith said.
“Oh, what?” April asked.
“Maybe that’s what he meant.”
“Who?”
“Paul. It’s something Grace said. She called a few days ago and said she remembered something Paul had said the last time she saw him. Of course, he was only fourteen at the time, so she hadn’t thought much of it.”
“What did he say for god’s sake?” Marsha said.
”As Grace remembered it, he said something like ‘I’ll make it up to her somehow someday.”’
“No!” Bree whispered. “He couldn’t have. Could he?”
Marsha stared at the picture in her hand, thinking that the little girl did look like Bree.
There was a long pause while everyone thought about what Grace had told Judith.
“I think that he may have, Bree,” Judith said. “It makes sense. He felt responsible for Nora’s baby’s death, and then you had a daughter. It probably fit together for him. Like some divine plan.”
“And would explain why there is nothing in these papers to tell you who this child was,” April added, having spent the last few minutes looking through the folder.
“This folder is just old bills and notes to herself. Nothing else. Not even letters or references to her daughter. Nora must have been afraid that you’d find out someday and come take her child away.”
“And why she changed her name!” April added.
All the women sighed in unison, thinking of what they had found. Was it good news or bad news?
“So now I’ll never find my daughter?” Bree asked, looking at each of her friends.
Cindy reached over to hold her hand. “We will, Bree. This is better than before when you had no idea what had happened. Now, we know that Paul probably gave your daughter to Nora. His lawyer might know more. We can track her down now that we have her picture. And if Nora had your daughter all these years, you know she was safe and loved.”
“Yes!” Judith added. “We’ll find her, Bree. I’ll call Bruce. Maybe he has more information. In fact, I am sure he does. He’s been so secretive. And we’ll have you do one of those DNA things, and perhaps we’ll find her that way.”
“Promise?” Bree said.
“Promise,” Judith answered, and everyone else nodded.
But all of them knew it was a shot in the dark. Nora had been careful. Paul had been thorough. All that they could hope was that Paul had led them all to this, with good intentions, wanting Bree to know that her daughter had been safe all along.
But that didn’t mean that they would find her.