Chapter 2 - THE LETTER SHE NEVER MEANT FOR HIM TO READ
Alex waited until Bianca disappeared upstairs before touching the envelope again.
It was still sitting on the counter exactly where she had left it, except now he noticed something he had missed before. The paper was slightly wrinkled along the edges, as if it had been folded, unfolded, rewritten, and folded again. Someone had spent a long time deciding whether those words deserved to exist.
His name was written across the front.
Alex.
No last name.
No formal greeting.
Just Alex.
He reached toward it.
Then stopped.
He had spent years respecting Bianca's boundaries, partly because she was his sister's best friend and partly because respecting those boundaries was the only way he had ever managed to live around her without revealing too much.
Six years ago, he had realized he was in love with her.
He had also realized that loving her was the one thing he could never safely admit.
Bianca was Lena's best friend.
That meant she was family.
Or close enough to it.
She had known Alex since they were teenagers. She had been there when Lena graduated college, when their father died, when their mother had surgery, when Alex enlisted, when Lena got married, and when Alex returned from his first overseas assignment with a scar along his ribs and an entirely different understanding of loneliness.
She had always been there.
And six years ago, Alex had nearly ruined everything.
He had almost told her.
He remembered the night with painful clarity.
A summer storm had knocked out the electricity.
Lena had gone upstairs.
Bianca had stayed behind to help clean the kitchen.
They had stood beside the same counter where Alex was now holding the letter.
Bianca had laughed at something he said.
He had looked at her.
Really looked.
And she had noticed.
For one suspended second, neither of them moved.
Then Lena had walked back into the kitchen.
The moment disappeared.
Alex had spent the next six years making sure it never happened again.
Now Bianca was living in his house.
Wearing his shirt.
Barefoot.
And hiding a letter with his name on it.
He heard footsteps above him.
Alex stepped away from the envelope.
Bianca came down wearing jeans and a loose cream sweater, her hair tied behind her neck.
She looked more composed.
Almost.
But when she saw him standing beside the counter, her expression tightened.
"Did you read it?"
"No."
She released a breath.
"Thank you."
"Yet."
She looked at him.
"Yet?"
"I haven't decided."
"Alex."
"I'm kidding."
He wasn't.
Not entirely.
Bianca walked to the coffee maker.
"You've been gone too long."
"That's your first complaint?"
"My first complaint is that you scared me."
"By coming home?"
"By coming home eleven days early without telling anyone."
"I wanted to surprise Lena."
"You succeeded."
"I didn't know I'd be surprising you too."
Bianca poured coffee into a mug.
Her hand trembled slightly.
Alex noticed.
"What's in the letter?"
She stared into her coffee.
"Something I should have told you a long time ago."
His stomach tightened.
"About what?"
She looked at him.
"About the night you left."
Six years earlier.
Alex remembered.
He had left three days after that storm.
He had accepted an assignment overseas and told himself it was because his career demanded it.
The truth was simpler.
He had been afraid.
Afraid that if he stayed, he would tell Bianca how he felt.
Afraid she would reject him.
Afraid she would tell Lena.
Afraid the entire family would become uncomfortable around him.
So he left.
Bianca had come to the airport.
She had hugged him.
And whispered something he had never forgotten.
"Come back safe."
He had almost kissed her.
Instead, he had stepped away.
"That's what the letter is about?"
"Partly."
"What else?"
Bianca put down the mug.
"Alex, I need you to understand something before you read it."
"Okay."
"I didn't write it because I expect anything from you."
"Then why write it?"
"Because carrying a secret for six years has become exhausting."
He studied her face.
"What secret?"
Her eyes filled with something that looked dangerously close to tears.
"I'll tell you."
She picked up the envelope.
Then stopped.
"Just not yet."
Alex's jaw tightened.
"Why?"
"Because Lena should be here."
"What does my sister have to do with this?"
Bianca looked away.
"Everything."
Before Alex could ask another question, a car horn sounded outside.
Bianca froze.
Alex turned toward the window.
A silver SUV had stopped at the curb.
Lena stepped out.
She slammed the door.
Then looked toward the house.
Her expression changed immediately.
"Oh no."
Alex frowned.
"You knew?"
Lena stared at Bianca.
Bianca stared back.
And Alex suddenly realized there was something much larger happening inside his house than an old letter.
"What did you two do?"
Neither woman answered.
Lena walked inside.
She looked at Alex.
Then Bianca.
Then the envelope.
Her face went pale.
"She gave it to you?"
"Not yet."
Lena closed her eyes.
"Thank God."
Alex looked between them.
"Would somebody please tell me what's going on?"
Lena sat down.
Bianca remained standing.
Finally Lena whispered—
"Six years ago, Bianca was pregnant."
Alex stopped breathing.
The kitchen became completely silent.
"What?"
Bianca closed her eyes.
Lena looked at her.
"You told me you would tell him."
"I was going to."
"When?"
Bianca's voice broke.
"Eventually."
Alex stared at her.
"Pregnant?"
Bianca nodded.
His mind went blank.
"With whose child?"
She looked directly at him.
"Yours."
The word struck him harder than anything he had experienced overseas.
He took one step backward.
"No."
Bianca didn't move.
"Alex—"
"No."
He laughed once.
Not because anything was funny.
Because his brain couldn't process the sentence.
"You're saying six years ago—"
"I was pregnant."
"With my child?"
"Yes."
Alex gripped the edge of the counter.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Bianca's eyes filled.
"Because I was afraid."
"Of me?"
"Of losing you."
"You lost me anyway."
"I know."
He looked at Lena.
"You knew?"
Lena nodded.
"I found out two weeks after he left."
Alex's voice became dangerously quiet.
"And you both decided I didn't deserve to know?"
"No," Lena said immediately. "It wasn't like that."
"Then what was it like?"
Bianca finally stepped closer.
"I found out after you left."
"You said you were pregnant."
"I was."
"Why didn't you call?"
"I did."
Alex stared.
"I never got a call."
"Because Lena stopped me."
He looked at his sister.
Lena's face crumpled.
"I thought I was protecting you."
"From what?"
"From the war."
Alex stared at her.
"You thought a pregnancy would distract me?"
"I thought you were already leaving for a dangerous deployment. You were about to fly across the world. Bianca was terrified. I thought if you knew, you'd stay for the wrong reasons."
Alex's voice broke.
"You had no right."
"I know."
"Does she?"
Bianca whispered—
"I know."
Alex looked at her.
"What happened to the baby?"
Bianca's tears finally fell.
"He was born."
Alex's heart stopped.
"He?"
She nodded.
"A boy."
"Where is he?"
Bianca looked at Lena.
Then back at Alex.
"He knows your name."
Alex closed his eyes.
"Where is my son?"
Bianca took a trembling breath.
"He's in Boston."
Alex opened his eyes.
"With who?"
"My parents."
The room went silent again.
"Your parents?"
"They helped me."
Alex looked at her.
"Why would your parents raise my son?"
"Because I was twenty-six. I was terrified. I had no idea how to raise a child alone. And you were gone."
"You could have told me."
"I know."
"You could have sent one message."
"I tried."
"Then why didn't I receive it?"
Bianca looked at Lena.
"Because your sister intercepted it."
Alex turned.
"Lena."
His sister began crying.
"I thought you were going to die."
"That doesn't explain it."
"I was wrong."
"Very wrong."
"I know."
Alex pushed away from the counter.
He needed air.
He walked toward the back door.
Bianca followed.
"Alex."
He turned.
"What is his name?"
She swallowed.
"Noah."
Alex stared at her.
"Noah Mercer?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"Alex Daniel Mercer."
His knees almost gave way.
"You named him after me?"
"I didn't know if you'd ever come back."
She wiped her face.
"I wanted him to have something that belonged to you."
Alex looked through the window.
The backyard was exactly as he remembered it.
Same fence.
Same maple tree.
Same wooden chair where his father used to sit.
Everything was unchanged.
Except his life.
He turned back.
"Does Noah know I'm his father?"
Bianca shook her head.
"Not yet."
"Why?"
"Because I wanted to tell him when I could tell him the truth."
"And what truth is that?"
"That his father didn't abandon him."
Alex stared at her.
"I didn't know he existed."
"I know."
"I would never have abandoned him."
"I know."
"Then why does he think I don't exist?"
"He doesn't."
"Then what does he think?"
Bianca's voice became quiet.
"He thinks you're a hero."
Alex couldn't speak.
"Why?"
"Because I never told him you were gone."
She smiled sadly.
"I told him you were somewhere helping people."
Alex looked down.
For six years, he had believed leaving was the only way to protect Bianca from his feelings.
Meanwhile, a child carrying his name had been growing up without him.
He looked at Bianca.
"Take me to him."
She froze.
"What?"
"Take me to my son."
"You just got home."
"I know."
"You haven't slept."
"I don't care."
"Alex, you need time."
"I've had six years."
He stepped closer.
"I don't need another day."
Bianca stared at him.
Then she nodded.
"Okay."
Lena stood behind them.
"There's something else."
Alex turned.
"What?"
Lena's face was pale.
"Bianca's father isn't the only person who knows."
"Who else?"
Lena hesitated.
"Someone has been looking for you."
Alex's expression changed.
"Who?"
Lena glanced at Bianca.
"Your father."
Alex froze.
"My father died."
"No."
Lena shook her head.
"He didn't."
And suddenly the secret that had started with one unborn child became something much darker.
May you like
Because Alex had buried his father six years ago.
Or so he thought.
