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“I don’t believe this,” Stacey said when they were both in her apartment. Zach set the box on the sofa and she sat beside it. He opened it, then went to sit in the chair across the room.

“The advantages of living in a small town. Remember Cyrus Snyder?”

She shook her head, looking at the stack of envelopes in the bottom of the box. On top was a paper-clipped stack of bank statements. She looked at the balance and her eyes widened.

She looked at Zach. “That much?”

He shrugged. “It was over seven years, I told you.”

“Who is Cyrus Snyder?”

“The postmaster of Carson Valley. An old-fashioned man who believe in delivering the mail to the recipient.”

She nodded, vaguely remembering some old man who was in charge.

“When no one picked up the mail, he contacted your mother first, but she refused delivery. Then he called my Dad. No go there, either. Mr. Snyder isn’t the type postmaster who gives up. He kept them. Said he knew one day you or I would show up for the mail. I put them in chronological order. Read them, Stacey. They are your letters.”

She picked up the first one and held it for a long moment, her heart beating rapidly. Letters from the past. She checked the postmark, it was just a couple of days after he left.

Slowly she opened the envelope and slid the letter out. Opening it, she recognized Zach’s bold handwriting. It was several pages long. She began to read.

The first letter brought tears to her eyes. She glanced at him from time to time, but he never said a word, just watched her read the missives he’d written so long ago.

The second asked her to join him, just as he’d said. The letters began to blur together as she read them, he’d told her he loved her and wanted her with him. One letter spoke of all the disappointments of the racing circuit, and asked to come home. Another described what hopes he’d had for their child, and future children. Yet another told her of his unbearable loneliness and hurt that she didn’t even answer his letters — if only to rail against him for failing her.

Gradually the tones changed. He no longer spoke of coming home, or of her joining him. The frequency diminished. The cards for her birthdays held photos in them. She touched his young face in the first one, glancing again at the man sitting so silently across from her.

“I never knew,” she said. “I was alone and hurting and so were you. Why didn’t you come home?”

“I asked to, you never said come. You only said go.”

“Come home now, Zach. I need you.”

He was off the chair in an instant, crossing to pull her into his arms. “I need you to say that. I love you, Stacey. I always have. We didn’t get married because of the baby, we got married because we are a part of each other. We were too young to handle what life threw our way. But we are older and wiser now. Marry me. Have my babies. Grow old with me. What do you say, Stacey? Love me until the end of time, for that’s how long I’ll love you.”

Stacey cupped Zach’s face in her palms, gazing deep into his eyes. She saw only love. “I say yes. I love you, Zach, I always have. I’m so sorry for the lost years. For the pain you went through all alone.”

“I’m sorry for yours, sweetheart. I always thought you were ignoring me. It never once crossed my mind that you didn’t get the letters.”

“I’ll always cherish them,” she said through her tears. “I love you.”

“I love you.” He sealed the vow with a kiss.

chapter: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20