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George still lived in the same house
One half of the double front doors swung open before I could knock and I found entleman “May I help you, miss?”
Oh, my God
Butterflies raged in my stomach as I clutched the purse that contained Sarah’s letters “Mr Beckwith George Beckwith?”
“Yes?”
I thrust out ton”
Beton No can I help?”
“This is strange,” I said softly “IuhI guess I’ll start off by saying that up until a few o I was a physician at the woton”
I dawned on him and I saw the warmth overshadowed by pain “Is this about Sarah?”
Like the e urge to burst into tears She was the first thing he considered
He’d never forgotten her
“Yes”
George opened the door wider “Then you’d better come in”
“So” George said a few minutes later, as he put down a tray of tea and biscuits on the coffee table in front of me
I was sitting in a large, coe, the furniture dated but of a quality that put e to shame
Shit My stuff Getting that back would be aard
“What do you have to tell hts
He sat down on the sofa across from me as I reached for my cup of tea
The letters were bytea Shaking a little— for him—I handed them over “I found these, Mr Beckwith”
“Please call e,” he muttered as he took the letters from me
“They were sealed inside a library book They’ve been there for forty years”
His eyes washed over his name and address, and I heard the pain in his voice when he whispered, “This is Sarah’s handwriting”
“She wrote to youbut unfortunately she passed away on the saot the chance to send the free and I swiped at them, embarrassed
George’s gaze turned kind at my show of emotion “I’m almost afraid now to knohat’s inside, if it has caused such a reaction in a stranger”
“You need to know”
“And you caive these to me?”
I nodded
He studied me “How extraordinary,” he murmured
Not really Not if he knew otten under my skin
“I can leave,” I said, “if you’d like to read them in private”
“That’s alright”
So I sat there, watching George read Sarah’s words, and my heart broke for hian to fall I watched hiain
And again
Finally he looked up at , and he whispered, “I already knew I already knew God damn it, Sarah”
Withso much for them both, I moved to sit beside him, to clutch his hand in comfort “I’m so sorry”
After aso hard around the letters they began to crumple “I found out about my father’s criminal activity a few years after Sarah married Ron I was disillusioned, yes, but I still loved him I couldn’t betray him All I could do was stay out of it, let it all die with hiret in his eyes “She should have trusted h to tell me”
“Was I wrong to give you these? Have I made it that much worse?”
“No,” he said “At least this way I know that she loved me like I loved her”
A little sob escaped my mouth before I could stop it
Looking concerned, George slid an arm around my shoulder “Why does this touch you so much?”
It took me a minute before I could speak properly “I feel like I understand her”
His expression fell “For your sake I hope that’s not true,” he said kindly
I had to ask, had to know“Do you still love her? Despite what she did? Do you forgive her? Do you still love her?”
George gripped hter and leaned in to me so I could see the absolution in his eyes “I loved my wife I did But Sarah Randall was the love of ton Yes Yes to all of the above”
I swiped at ave him a shaky smile “You can call me Jessica”
George smiled back “Jessica Somehow I think there is more to this story for you”
I nodded and looked at Sarah’s crumpled letters “You know, she doesn’t say it, but I think ht her life with Ron because you were lost to her once you married Annabelle”
“Why do you think that?” he said hoarsely
“Because you were her whole world, George Maybe it wasn’t right, maybe it was stupid, but she htinguntil she realized not fighting was going to kill her”
“She was ht she knew it” e still lived in the same house