I didn't realize how frightening those words might have been to a boy carrying a secret about his mother's death.
Nia changed too.
She became protective of Claire's belongings.
She refused to let Vanessa move photographs from the hallway.
She kept her mother's old sweaters folded inside a drawer.
And she became upset whenever someone referred to Vanessa as her new mother.
One evening, after a charity dinner, Vanessa told me Nia had been disrespectful.
I asked what happened.
โShe told me I'd never replace Claire.โ
I sighed.
โShe's grieving.โ
Vanessa looked hurt.
โI know. But I've tried so hard.โ
I wrapped an arm around her.
โI appreciate you.โ
She rested her head against my shoulder.
For a long time, I believed she was the one being rejected.
The patient new wife struggling to earn the trust of grieving stepchildren.
Now, looking back, I remembered Nia's face whenever Vanessa approached her mother's photographs.
And I wondered whether my daughter had been trying to tell me something I simply didn't want to hear.
At Angela's house that evening, after the confrontation, Nia finally explained how she found the letters.
She had been looking for an old photograph of Claire.
One taken during a family vacation to Maine.
Claire had always kept important photographs in a carved wooden storage cabinet beneath the living-room television.
The cabinet contained albums, camera accessories, and boxes of printed photographs.
Earlier that week, Vanessa had announced plans to replace it.
She wanted a cleaner, more contemporary design.
Nia objected.
โThat was Mom's.โ
Vanessa told her the house needed to move forward.
Nia waited until Vanessa went out.
Then began sorting through the contents.
Behind a removable panel at the back of the cabinet, she discovered a narrow compartment.
Inside was a sealed envelope.
Several photographs.
A small brass key.
And a memory card wrapped in tissue paper.
Nia recognized Claire's handwriting on the envelope.
It was addressed to me.
But she'd been afraid Vanessa would find it before I came home.
She took it to Ethan.
And when he saw the date, his expression changed.
For several minutes, he refused to touch the papers.
Then he told Nia to put everything back.
She became angry.
โWhy?โ
He wouldn't answer.
She demanded to know what he was hiding.
He told her she didn't understand.