“The last time I saw her, she asked me why I wasn’t coming to her recital. I didn’t even know she had one. Claire never told me. I promised Emily I’d make the next one.”
He swallowed. “But I never saw her again.”
For a moment, the room was silent.
I wanted to stay angry. I still was. But the photographs had changed the shape of my anger.
“Why keep the unit?” I asked.
“When Claire returned the gifts I sent, I couldn’t throw them away. I put everything there because seeing it at home would have destroyed me.”
“And marrying me two months later? What about that?”
“I loved you.”
“Did you? Or did I help you pretend she never existed?”
His eyes filled.
“I loved you. I still do. But I was ashamed.”
“Of having a daughter?”
“Of losing her.”
I looked at the key between us.
