Page 54 of Sweet Somethings

"What's inside?"

"Looks like love letters."

"What? Really?" she asked in surprise. "From my parents?"

"I'm not sure. There aren't any names mentioned."

"Can I see?"

"That's why I called you. Why don't we take them into the kitchen?"

"Okay," she said, following him across the hall. She took off her coat as she sat down at the kitchen table.

Roman placed the box in front of her, and she opened the lid. As Roman had said, there was a stack of letters wrapped with a ribbon. The first one had been taken out of the pack, probably the one Roman had read.

She picked it up and unfolded the notepaper, then read the note aloud.

To My Love,

I can't believe we finally met today. I've thought about how that would happen for so long. I had made up scenes in my head where we accidentally ran into each other, but I never expected it would be in the cold medicine aisle at the drugstore. I'm sorry you're sick but I'm not sorry that we bumped into each other, that you said my name the way I'd dreamed of hearing you say it.

Maybe your voice was deeper because of your cold, but I prefer to think it's because I took your breath away. Isn't that silly?

I'm a silly girl. Everyone says so. I'll never send you this letter, but maybe one day, if things work out, I'll show it to you, and I'll tell you that I knew the first second we met that we were destined to be together.

With all my love

She looked up at Roman. "It sounds like the writing of a very young woman."

"Do you think it was your mother?"

She shook her head. "She met my dad on a vacation she took to Miami Beach."

"Was it possible he had a cold at the time?" Roman said lightly.

She thought about that for a moment. "I suppose it's possible, but I never heard that story."

"There are about ten more letters. Maybe it will become more clear who's writing and who they're writing about as you read through them."

She stared down at the beautiful cursive handwriting and wondered who had taken pen to paper at the first feeling of love and amazement. And why had they hidden the letter in a box under some floorboards in the closet?

"What did you use that bedroom for?" Roman asked, drawing her attention back to him.

"What?" She had to think for a minute. "The bedroom was my dad's den. There's no way he wrote the letter. He was not romantic at all. My mom used to complain all the time about the gifts he'd get her. They were always practical, like a vacuum cleaner or a new microwave oven."

"Those can be good gifts."

She smiled. "My mom wanted jewelry or lingerie or something personal."

"So we can rule out your father, which makes sense. It sounds like a woman. And you just said your mom liked romance."

"But this doesn't sound like her." She paused. "I'd have to read more."

"Do you want something to drink before you get into that?" he asked, getting to his feet to open the refrigerator door. "I've got beer and orange juice."

"I'll take the beer," she said, feeling like she needed a drink.

He opened a bottle and handed it to her. She took a long swig, then set it down and reached for the next letter in the pile.

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