Inside were children’s drawings tied with faded ribbons, birthday cards addressed to “Dear Harold,” school certificates, and dozens of carefully preserved letters.
Every single one ended with the same name: Virginia.
At the bottom lay a worn folder. I opened it slowly.
Documents dated 65 years back showed that Harold had quietly taken responsibility for a young woman and her infant daughter after the child’s father disappeared. He paid their rent, covered school fees later on, and sent a modest monthly allowance for years. Every letter the woman wrote to him had been saved as though it were sacred.
One thought haunted me: Harold had another family. A life he’d hidden from me for six decades.
I sat down on the floor of that garage and pressed both hands over my mouth.
“Oh, God,” I whispered. “Harold, what have you done?”
I heard tires crunch on gravel outside.
A bicycle skidded to a stop. When I turned toward the open door, the girl from the funeral was standing there, slightly out of breath, cheeks flushed from riding.
“I thought you might come here,” she said.
“You followed me?”
She nodded without apparent embarrassment. “I rode behind the taxi. When I felt the key in the envelope, I couldn’t stop wondering what it opened. When Harold asked me to give you the envelope, he said it was the most important thing I’d ever do. He said I had to wait until that exact day.”
“I don’t understand. Who are you? How do you know my husband? What’s your mother’s name?” I pressed.
The girl stepped closer and peered at the box the way curious children look at things that fascinate them. “My mom’s name is Virginia. I’m Gini, by the way!”
“Did she ever say who Harold was to her?”
