‘Dora, look at me.’
Reluctantly, she looked up.
‘I could tell you that you are an amazing young woman, and that you have been braver and stronger than anyone I’ve ever met. And I could tell you that Archie is lucky to have you. But I don’t think you’d believe me.’
Capturing her chin, he tilted her face so that there was nowhere to look but into his eyes.
‘And I get that. I haven’t made it easy for you to trust me. I don’t think anyone ever has except Della. That’s why I want you to have these.’
He held up the envelope and she stared at it uncertainly. ‘What’s that?’
‘It’s the letters Della wrote to my father.’
She stared at the envelope, breathing out against t
he sudden sharp ache in her heart. ‘Have you read them?’
Of course he hadn’t, she thought a half-second later as he shook his head. His mother had been married to Lao Dan when he died. Why would Charlie want to read love letters from his father’s mistress?
‘He showed me a couple. After he had the first stroke.’ He glanced over at Archie. ‘I’ll take him somewhere and you can read them.’
‘No—stay. Please. I’d rather you stayed,’ she said quietly and, taking the envelope, tipped out the letters.
Most were handwritten, and that felt odd, seeing her sister’s familiar cursive writing. But more strange still was meeting this version of Della.
Dora had always been the one talking and telling stories, teasing and trying to get Della to be more impulsive. Her sister had always been contained, measured, sensible.
Not this Della, though: she had been provocative and passionate.
A lot like me, Dora thought. And that was a surprise too.
Reading her sister’s words, she felt sadness and joy alternately filling her chest. It was heartbreaking to know that Della’s happiness had been so short-lived, but her excitement at finding love for the first time shone from the page.
Dora’s heartbeat froze.
Her name jumped out at her from the pages of closely scrawled writing.
I can’t wait for you to meet Dora. She’s so talented. She could have anything she wants—not that she believes me.
And there it was again.
Dora is really excited about our news. Our baby is going to be so lucky to have her in his life.
There was more, but she couldn’t read it. Her eyes were too full of tears to see.
‘Do-Do.’
Archie was beside her, his dark eyes huge, his forehead creasing with confusion, and she pulled him into her arms, burying her face in his neck, breathing in his baby smell as he patted her clumsily on the shoulder.
Finally, she lifted her head. Charlie was watching her in silence. She held out the letters, but he shook his head.
‘Keep them. She would have wanted you to have them. I want you to have them.’
‘She never talked to me about their relationship.’ She bit her lip. ‘Probably because I just used to get angry and say horrible things about him.’
‘He hurt her,’ he said simply. ‘Of course you were angry. I was angry too. With Della. She always seemed so straightforward. I thought I knew her, and I trusted her. Only then...’
‘She hurt you?’