Page 106 of Keepsake

The feel of her skin on mine was enough to calm my muscles from twitching. Papá’s eyes followed her hand, but I didn’t care enough to move away from her touch. Logan’s thumb made delicate circles around my pulse, and I let out a breath and sat down again.

Mamá was the last one to sit down but she did, and I started over, not gentle anymore. “You treated Logan like she was a villain.” I turned to my mother accusingly, even if my tone was low. “You acted like she was ruining our family when she was the only one who tried to save us. She was the only one who protected Sofia, and you tried to push her away.”

I knew my words hit the target when my mother’s eyes filled with tears. Papá, with a rage I didn’t expect from him, slapped a hand on the table.

“Enough, Alvaro.”

“We all sat as she suffered, and Logan was the only person who—” I knew I was ready to pop a vein, my eyes turning red with rage, but then Logan’s hand was over my leg, stopping me.

“It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“It doesn’t?” I asked, turning my gaze to her. “You come here with fear of being rejected when we should thank you? You tried to take care of Sofia, and now you’re raising her kids. You did what we couldn’t do, Logan.”

She looked me right in the eyes, frowning as she sent me a sad smile. “I did it because I loved Sofia. And I love the kids. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“It matters to me,” I told her and then moved my eyes to my parents. “Logan should be treated better.”

“Logan,” Papá started. “We do appreciate what you do for the kids. They look great. Healthy.”

Mamá said nothing. Her eyes shattered in pain. I wanted to feel sorry for hurting my mother, but my pain didn’t let me.

“What were you trying to find in those old pictures?” she finally asked.

“Old pictures?” Logan furrowed her eyebrows.

I rubbed my palm over my face. “Something. A sign. I don’t understand how we missed it. How bad things were that she—”

“She was here.” Papá sagged to the chair, all the fight leaving his body. “She wasn’t with him anymore. She was here.”

Here. I understood the hurt in his voice. Because it was them who found Sofia. The kids were away at different sleepovers, they came back from church and Sofia…

I shook the image away. It was horrible. I couldn’t begin to understand the pain of them finding Sofia dead, knowing nothing was ever going to be the same.

I wanted to be kind to them. I wanted to understand their misery, but my heart bled when I thought of what she went through. I couldn’t comprehend how she felt, how she wanted to leave us even after years away from David.

“Because the kids were safe.”

We all stopped and looked at Mamá. Her voice was raw, ripping from her throat, silent tears down her lashes. She looked at Logan and with a nod that seemed more for herself than to any of us, she turned and opened the cupboard above the stove.

Inside the cookie jar that never held a cookie in one day of its life, she took out a letter.

The letter.

I knew Sofia left a letter, but Mamá said it wasn’t for me and I accepted that since I couldn’t find in my heart to read it, anyway.

It was for Logan. For months I kept the secret, thinking maybe she wasn’t ready to let go of the last thing from Sofia.

Gulping, she passed the envelope to Logan.

“She left you a letter.”

Logan didn’t ask why it took so long to find its way to her. She just pressed her fingers on top and slipped it toward her, a breath catching as she saw Sofia’s handwriting on the front.

“Let’s go,” I said.

Logan nodded, bringing the envelope closer to her and nodding to Papá.

“I’m sorry about… your party.”

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