Chapter 3 – The Letter He Never Received
“What did you ask me?”
Marcus’s voice sounded strange.
Katie held the envelope against her chest.
“I asked if I could come home.”
I saw his hand tighten against the edge of the table.
“You could always come home.”
She shook her head.
“That’s what you keep saying now.”
He didn’t argue.
He looked at the envelope instead.
“Would you let me read it?”
Katie hesitated.
Then she handed it over.
The paper was creased along the folds, and one corner had been softened by handling.
Marcus opened it carefully.
I watched his expression change as he read.
There was no grand speech in the letter. No accusation. No demand for money.
Katie had written that her apartment building was being sold, that she couldn’t afford the new rent, and that she had six weeks to find somewhere else.
She’d asked whether she could use her old bedroom for a month while she looked for another apartment.
She’d promised to pay for groceries.
She’d promised not to disturb his work.
At the bottom, she’d written:
I know it’s different now that you’re getting married. I won’t stay longer than I have to. I just thought maybe I could come home for a little while.
Marcus lowered the letter.
“Where did you go?”
Katie looked uncomfortable.
“I found somewhere.”
“Where?”
“A room over a garage.”
“Was it safe?”
“Mostly.”
He looked at her.
“Mostly?”
“The heat didn’t work very well.”
I could see him trying not to react.
Katie continued before he could ask another question.
“It was temporary. I found my current place after Christmas.”
“Did you tell Evelyn where you were staying?”
“She knew.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
A bitter silence settled over the table.
Then he asked, “Did you ever sleep in your car?”
Katie didn’t answer immediately.
I knew the answer before she spoke.
“Just a few nights.”
Marcus bent his head.
“When?”
“Before I sold it.”
“How many nights?”
“Five.”
His face looked older.
Katie reached toward him, then stopped.
“Dad, I wasn’t in danger. I parked in the hospital lot near my job. There were security cameras.”
I saw Marcus swallow.
He was a man with armed guards at his gates, heated garages, and bedrooms that went unused for months.
His daughter had slept in a parking lot because she believed the door to her childhood home was closed.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Katie shook her head.
“You didn’t know.”
“That doesn’t make it better.”
“No. But it matters.”
He looked at her.
She continued, “I didn’t come tonight to punish you. I came because I thought paying the money would finally let me stop feeling ashamed.”
Marcus folded the letter again.
Then he said, “You shouldn’t have had to earn your way back.”
Katie stared at the table.
“Maybe not. But I did learn how to take care of myself.”
“I can see that.”
“Then please don’t turn this into another situation where everyone decides what’s best for me.”
He nodded.
It took effort.
I could tell.
But he nodded.
Evelyn returned a few minutes later.
She had removed her engagement ring.
I noticed because she kept rubbing the empty place on her finger.
“The caterers have been informed,” she said. “Most of the guests have been reached.”
Marcus looked up.
“Thank you.”
She seemed startled by the courtesy.
Then her gaze fell on the letter.
“You kept that?”
Katie nodded.
Evelyn looked away.
“You told me you’d destroyed it.”
“I couldn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because it was the last time I asked my dad for anything.”
Evelyn’s face tightened.
For a second, I thought she might apologize.
Instead, she said, “I didn’t know the apartment situation had become so serious.”
Katie looked at her.
“You returned the letter with a note saying he wouldn’t help.”
“I told you Marcus had other responsibilities.”
“You wrote, ‘He has made his decision.’”
Evelyn pressed her lips together.
Marcus said, “Did you tell Katie I’d read her letter?”
“I believed you would agree with me.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
“You were worried about her relying on you indefinitely.”
“I was worried she was putting off finishing school because she was afraid to fail.”
Katie turned toward him.
“You thought I was afraid to fail?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Yes.”
She gave a small, humorless laugh.
“I wasn’t afraid to fail. I was afraid I couldn’t afford to try.”
The difference seemed to hit him harder than any accusation.
Evelyn sat down across from them.
“Marcus, you did tell me you wanted her to become independent. You cannot pretend you never said it.”
“I said it. And I should have said more to Katie herself.”
Evelyn looked almost relieved.
But Marcus continued.
“I gave you responsibility for helping her apply to school. I never gave you permission to make her feel unwanted.”
She stared at him.
“I’ve spent three years trying to make this household function while you worked.”
“I know.”
“Do you? Because you never questioned it when Katie stopped visiting.”
That was true.
And it was the first thing Evelyn had said all evening that Marcus couldn’t dismiss.
His silence told her so.
Katie stood.
“I don’t want you fighting about me.”
Marcus looked up.
“We’re fighting because I failed to ask what was happening.”
She held his gaze for a moment.
Then she said, “I can come back tomorrow if you want to talk.”
“I’d like that.”
She gave a small nod.
I fetched her green wool coat from the hall.
As she slipped it on, the lining caught on her bracelet.
It was a narrow silver bracelet with a tiny engraved star.
Marcus noticed it.
“You still wear that?”
Katie touched the star.
“You gave it to me when I graduated high school.”
He smiled sadly.
“You told me it was too small.”
“It fits now.”
He walked her to the dining-room doorway.
Before leaving, Katie turned back.
“Dad, did you really pay the deposit for that education program?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Thirty-six hundred dollars.”
She frowned.
“Evelyn told me it was rejected because I hadn’t paid my family debt.”
Marcus looked at his fiancée.
Evelyn’s expression changed again.
Katie added, “I went to the college office myself. They said the payment had been canceled.”
Marcus stared at her.
Then he turned to Evelyn.
“Show me where that thirty-six hundred dollars went.”
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