“Then why ask now?”
“Please, Kendall. Forget the past.”
What did you mean about what you did?
“You brought up the past, Rex. Remember?”
“I was upset.”
“And now you’re suddenly desperate to forget it? Why?”
“Please stop.”
I just never imagined you’d betray me.
“Then tell me what you’re afraid of.”
He turned toward the window.
“That’s what I thought.”
I’d confessed my worst secret.
Rex was terrified I’d uncover his.
You brought up the past.
***
At home, I remembered the locked box Rex had brought from the garage after Walter’s funeral. He’d left it in his study.
Inside were photographs and envelopes tied with ribbon.
They were addressed to me.
Walter’s handwriting.
“I love you, Kendall. I’m counting the days until we can finally marry.”
Rex was terrified I’d uncover his.
Another promised he’d return soon.
On a third envelope, Walter had written:
“Rex, please give this to Kendall.”
My hands shook.
“You told me he’d found another woman, Rex.”
I love you, Kendall.
I looked at the unopened letters.
“And all this time, you had these?”
I sat down.
“You stole my chance to choose.”
I thought I’d finally understood his strange question.
Then I found another envelope.
Please give this to Kendall.
This one was addressed to Rex.
It was dated twenty years earlier.
Walter had written:
“Rex, I’ve kept my promise for thirty years. Kendall still doesn’t know what happened, and I’ve protected your secret long enough. But my family deserves the truth. One day, I’ll tell them everything.”
“What else did you two hide from me?”
You stole my chance to choose.
Walter was gone. Rex wouldn’t talk.
But Walter had a daughter.
I called her.
“Grace? I found a letter your father wrote to Rex. I think you need to see it.”
“Come over,” she said quietly.
My family deserves the truth.
***
Forty minutes later, Grace read the letter in her living room.
“Dad told me something before he died,” she whispered.
“About Rex?”
She nodded.
“What did he tell you?”
I found a letter your father wrote to Rex.
Grace took a deep breath.
Then she told me everything.
I stared at her, unable to speak. “No. That can’t be true.”
“I wish it weren’t.”
“And Rex knew?”
Dad told me something before he died.
“All along.”
I stood up, my hands trembling. “Then we’re going to talk to him. All three of us.”
Grace hesitated. “I’ve wanted to confront him since Dad died. I just couldn’t face another family disaster.”
“Neither could I. But he doesn’t get to hide from this anymore.”
Rex had spent fifty years keeping us in the dark. Now he was about to face the two women who knew his secret.
That can’t be true.
***
The following afternoon, I brought Rex home.
“Can we start over?” he asked.
“Not until we’ve talked.”
“About Walter?”
“About our marriage.”
The two women who knew his secret.
The doorbell rang.
Rex opened it. “Grace?”
“Hello, Uncle Rex.”
His smile faltered.
I entered the living room. “Sit down, Rex.”
About our marriage.
I placed Walter’s letters on the table.
“Where did you find those?” he whispered.
“In your garage box. Why didn’t you deliver them?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Did you tell me Walter had found another woman?”
I placed Walter’s letters on the table.
Rex closed his eyes. “Yes.”
“And tell Walter I’d stopped waiting?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I loved you. I’d always been jealous of him. I couldn’t bear losing you too.”
Why didn’t you deliver them?
“So you stole my choice.”
“I thought I could make you happy.”
“Did you marry me just to defeat him?”
“At first, jealousy blinded me. But I truly fell in love with you.”
He reached for my hand.
I’d always been jealous of him.
“I’m sorry.”
I pulled away. “I thought that might be your worst betrayal.”
I lifted the second letter.
“But then I found this.”
And suddenly, Rex looked more frightened than he had before collapsing.
I truly fell in love with you.
I read Walter’s words aloud.
“I gave her my name. I raised her as my own. But I won’t take your secret to my grave.”
Rex whispered, “Please.”
“Who was Walter talking about?”
“It’s complicated.”
I lifted the second letter.
“Then explain it.”
“Old family business.”
I turned toward Grace. “Tell him what you told me.”
She sat straighter.
“Dad told me the truth shortly before he died.”
I won’t take your secret to my grave.
Rex shook his head. “He shouldn’t have burdened you.”
“When Dad returned from overseas, Mom was already pregnant. They married a few months later.”
“I knew that,” Rex said.
“He knew the baby wasn’t his.”
Rex looked down.
Dad told me the truth.
I asked, “Why would Walter marry a pregnant woman he barely knew?”
Grace watched him. “Because her real father was already married.”
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