She took his hand.
For a while, none of us spoke.
Eventually Owen asked, “What happened when you saw him again?”
Mrs. Parker wiped her eyes.
“Who?”
“Mr. Mercer. You said you saw him once after he left.”
Mrs. Parker became very still.
“It was here.”
“At your house?”
“No.”
She looked toward the direction of the school.
“It was in the auditorium.”
Owen stared.
“When?”
“Twenty-four years ago.”
She folded the letter carefully.
“He came to a concert.”
“Did you talk?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
Mrs. Parker hesitated.
“He asked me whether I had ever received something from him.”
“The song?”
“I assumed he meant a letter.”
“And?”
“I told him no.”
Owen frowned.
“Why didn’t he give it to you then?”
Mrs. Parker looked troubled.
“I don’t know.”
That afternoon Owen returned to the school.
He said he wanted to help Ms. Delgado clean up decorations, but I suspected otherwise.
