Chapter 14 - ELENA’S LAST LETTER
I read Elena’s letter alone.
Then again with Allie.
She had never seen it.
Murphy,
You always think protecting people means standing in front of bullets.
Sometimes it means trusting someone else to carry what you can’t.
Allie cried immediately.
Elena explained everything.
Her pregnancy.
Daniel Carter.
Vale’s threats.
Evan’s help.
Allie’s promise.
Then:
If something happens to me, Allie will raise Lily better than our family ever could.
That hurt because it was true.
She continued.
Do not take my daughter from her.
I looked at Allie.
“I would have.”
Three years ago.
Maybe.
Allie nodded through tears.
“I know.”
Elena knew too.
That was why she hid Lily.
Then came the paragraph that destroyed me.
Murphy, if you become cold after I’m gone, please remember cold is not strength.
You loved me loudly when we were children and quietly when we grew up.
Do not let my death convince you quiet love is safer.
It isn’t.
I stopped reading.
Allie took my hand.
Not romantic.
Not yet.
Human.
I finished.
And if one day someone walks into your locked room without permission and makes you want to live in the world again, don’t punish them for succeeding.
I laughed through tears.
“That woman planned everything.”
Allie smiled.
“Apparently.”
I looked toward the living room.
Lily was asleep with Fantasma.
Of course.
Then Elena’s final line:
Open the curtains, idiot.
I laughed harder.
My sister.
Still insulting me from the grave.
The next morning, I opened every curtain in the house.
Raised the thermostat.
Seventy degrees.
Allie noticed.
“Wasteful.”
“Lily complained.”
“She’s five.”
“She’s persuasive.”
Months passed.
Allie stopped working for me completely.
She started a bookkeeping business with money from a victims’ compensation settlement tied to Evan’s case.
I became her first client.
She charged full price.
Rude.
Healthy.
We had dinner once.
Then again.
No guards.
No pressure.
No secret rooms.
At the third dinner, I said:
“I want to kiss you.”
Allie stared.
“Very subtle.”
“I’m learning.”
“And if I say no?”
“We finish dessert.”
She smiled.
“Yes.”
So I kissed her.
Slowly.
Nothing exploded.
No enemy appeared.
No empire collapsed.
It was just a kiss.
That almost made it sacred.
A year later, I considered proposing.
I bought a ring.
Then returned it.
Too soon.
Allie never knew.
Six months after that, Lily found the receipt in my desk.
“Why didn’t you ask Mama?”
I sighed.
“Privacy is important.”
“She loves you.”
“Still not your job.”
“Are you scared?”
“Yes.”
She nodded.
“Heavy rain?”
“Maybe.”
She walked away.
Ten minutes later Allie entered.
“Lily says you’re being stupid.”
“Sounds like her.”
Allie sat across from me.
“Were you going to propose?”
I stared.
“Traitor.”
“Yes or no?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because I didn’t want you to feel trapped.”
Allie’s eyes filled.
Then she said:
“Murphy, respecting my choice also means letting me make one.”
Fair.
Very fair.
So I opened the desk.
No ring.
Returned.
Allie started laughing.
“You returned it?”
“Yes.”
“Idiot.”
“Elena said the same thing.”
“Good woman.”
Then Allie reached into her purse.
She placed a small box on the table.
I stared.
“What is that?”
“Open it.”
Inside was my grandmother’s old wedding band.
Restored.
Simple.
No giant diamond.
Allie smiled.
“Lily and I found it with Elena’s things.”
I looked at her.
“Are you proposing to me?”
“No.”
May you like
She grinned.
“I’m giving you another chance not to screw it up.”
