Vanessa looked at Irvin.
Irvin looked back at her. Calm. Kind. Not angry.
“I’m sorry, Vanessa,” he said. “I should have said something sooner. I didn’t know how.”
She looked away from him. She looked down at the box again.
There was one more thing in it. At the very bottom. Wrapped in white tissue paper.
She didn’t want to touch it. I could see it in her face. But everybody was watching. She had to.
She reached into the box. She lifted out the package. She peeled back the white tissue paper.
A white leather photo album. With gold letters on the cover.
Vanessa & Mark. June 14, 2008.
And the color drained from her face.
She didn’t scream. She didn’t throw it. She didn’t run.
She just stood there holding her own wedding album. Her hands started to shake.
“Where,” she said. Her voice was barely a whisper. “Where did you get this?”
