My dear child,
I抦 leaving tomorrow, and I don抰 know if you抣l ever find this letter. I抦 your mother, not your sister. It kills me to leave you behind when I leave for college in the morning, but it has to be this way. I want you to know that your father was my first love. We were both only fifteen, and he came to work for my dad in El Paso. To make a long story short, I got pregnant, and Mama said that they would adopt you and raise you as my sister, and your father was more than willing to sign the consent forms before he went back to New Mexico. His name was Larry Morino, and he died in a car wreck before you were born.
Leaving you is so painful that I don抰 expect I抣l come back very often, but I can抰 leave without at least telling you how I feel and hoping that someday you will find this note in the last book I read to you. I couldn抰 take care of you properly at fifteen, and now that you are legally Mama and Daddy抯 child, I can抰 bear to watch you grow up and not tell you that you really are my daughter and not my sister.
Your father and I listened to Van Halen that summer, and 揝ecrets?was our song. I wanted to name you Vanessa Halen, though Mama said she would only concede to Haley. To her, Halen sounded like a boy抯 name, so we compromised. That抯 just a little bit of news that you might not know unless Mama finally decides to tell you about your birth.
I wish you all the best life can offer, and hope you grow up to be a well-adjusted woman.
Again, I love you,
Your mother, Frannie
Haley read the letter three more times with tears dripping onto the paper every time. When she finished, she laid it on the floor and sobbed worse than she had even at her mother抯 funeral. She wasn抰 aware of anyone knocking on her door or pushing it open and coming into her room until Risa sat down beside her and wrapped her up in her arms.
揑t抯 going to be all right,?Risa said. 揥e抮e here to help you however we can. Don抰 cry. There抯 lots of single mothers out there in the world, and this baby is going to be loved and spoiled and棓 She stopped and stared at the letter. 揥hat is that? Is it what your mama wrote to you? Why are you dragging that out tonight??
揜ead it,?Haley said. 揑t抯 from Frannie. She wrote it when I was three years old, the night before she left for college the next day. Why was it under the dresser? Did Mama leave it there, knowing that I would find it when she was gone??
Risa picked the letter up, read it, and then hugged Haley again. 揝he loved you. Now you know that she didn抰 just forget about you, but that she stayed away out of love. She wanted you to have the best life.?
揇o you think if she was still alive敆Haley reached over her shoulder and got a tissue from a box on the dresser棑she would be disappointed in me? Here I am, repeating her mistake.?
揘o, I don抰。？Risa folded the letter and put it back into the envelope. 揑 believe she would be very proud of you, and who knows梞aybe neither you nor this baby were mistakes. Until we are old and have time to look back, sometimes what looks like a mistake is really a blessing. You are smart and independent, and just remember that everything happens for a reason. We might not know what the reason is at first, but a few years on down the road we抣l understand. Want to go out to the kitchen and get a glass of milk and maybe some cookies??
揧es, I do.?Haley held on to the book with one hand and pushed herself up off the floor. 揂nd I want to talk about the memory that popped into my head when I picked this book up. Frannie read it to me that last night before she left to go to California to college. I think she might have been crying when I kissed her good night.?
揟hat means she was sad to leave you.?Risa draped an arm around Haley抯 shoulders and led her out to the kitchen. 揝it while I pour us some milk, and we抣l dip our peanut butter cookies in it. And tell me how you felt.?
揟hank God we all came back home,?Haley said with a long sigh. 揜ight now, I feel like you抮e the counselor instead of me.?
揋ood,?Risa said with a smile. 揟hat means I get to pay you back just a little for all you抳e done for me and my girls.?
Chapter Fourteen
The air was heavy with anticipation, and the slight wind blew sand in Jessica抯 face. She stood perfectly still between the two houses and held her breath as she waited for the signal from her commanding officer. A high-ranking enemy had been spotted going into a place across the road with several of his team. Her five-person team抯 mission was to surveil, report back that the target was really in the house, and then quietly retreat after the house had been marked.
Things seldom went as planned, though, and suddenly, half a dozen men surrounded her, automatic rifles in their hands. Jessica抯 heart pounded so loudly in her ears that she hardly heard the first shot, but when the second one ricocheted off the stone wall of the house right beside her, her training kicked in, and she defended herself. Bullets zinged past her head, and men fell to the ground. Seconds seemed like hours, and she prayed that those who were dead weren抰 members of her team.