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“Are you sure you don’t hate

“I could never hate you And I don’t want you to hate yourself”

That was a big ask, but for the first tiht that maybe, just maybe, I could move on from the past

“I love you,” I whispered “I didn’t think I’d ever meet anyone like you or allow myself to feel this way”

He stood and brushed a light kiss overin his eyes “Does that mean yes?”

My chin wobbled again, and more tears ran down my cheeks “That means hell yes”

EPILOGUE

One year later

Soon after Evan asked me to marry him, I pulled out the letters I’d written to the doctor and his fao After I reread the back every painful memory

Evan lit a fire on the beach, and we burned the letters together, the flauilt I’d carried for way too many years

The next day, I sat down and started to write another letter It wasn’t easy, and it took several days to get the words I needed to say down on paper

Evan found the doctor’s address forto hear back, but a week later, I did

The doctor said that he and his faiven ious person, their sentiht yet more tears to my eyes I kept their letter in the drawer by my bed and read it often

My mind still wandered to the past and to the lost and unloved little girl I once was If I had a ti her pain away All she wanted was to feel loved and valued