“I cried for an hour.”
The house went quiet around us.
Outside, a car passed slowly with music thumping through its windows.
Mason looked at the photograph again.
“She never let me carry shame by myself. That’s my Nana.”
“She never let me carry shame by myself.”
I knew then.
Not because he explained.
Because he did not have to.
***
On the morning of our wedding, Maribel arrived wearing a cream dress, pearl earrings, and a silk scarf that matched too perfectly.
She hugged me carefully, as if she were afraid of leaving some part of herself on my shoulder.
I knew then.
“You look beautiful, Cindy.”
