I nodded.
She continued.
“When we were sorting his things, Anna found a folder with old photographs, letters, and that correspondence.”
She looked toward the Camaro.
“He'd kept everything.”
I swallowed.
Mara continued.
“I started searching for you then. Not obsessively. Not every day. But whenever I thought about Millbrook, I'd wonder where you went.”
She smiled sadly.
“Three years ago, I moved to Chicago for work.”
I stared.
“You've been here three years?”
She nodded.
“Yes.”
“And you didn't know I had a garage?”
“Not until recently.”
She hesitated.
“Last month, Anna found your grandfather's business name in an old letter. She searched for it and found the garage.”
I looked toward Walter's photograph.
Mara continued.
“I was going to contact you. I really was.”
“Then why didn't you?”
She laughed nervously.
“Because I kept imagining you were married.”
I felt my chest tighten.
She looked down.
“And you were.”
I swallowed.
“Hannah died three years ago.”
Mara nodded.
“I know now.”
I stared.
She continued carefully.
“I found a public memorial notice when I was trying to understand your life. I stopped searching after that for a while.”
My expression softened.
She looked toward me.
“I didn't want to arrive in your life as some woman from childhood demanding attention from a grieving father.”
I looked down.
For a moment, I appreciated that more than I could say.
Mara continued.
“Then last Tuesday, I was driving to work, and the Camaro broke down near your garage.”
She laughed weakly.
“I didn't plan that part.”
I smiled despite everything.
She looked toward me.
“When I called, I knew the business name. But I didn't know whether you would be the person answering.”
I stared.
“And when I heard your voice...”
Her eyes filled.
She took a breath.
“I knew.”
For a long moment, neither spoke.
Then she whispered, “I was terrified.”
I looked toward her.
“Of me?”
“Of what you might remember.”
She glanced at the photograph.
“And what you might not.”
I closed my eyes.
For twenty-four years, the past had been a collection of unanswered questions.