Chapter 12: The Envelope

Romy slit the envelope with her thumbnail.

Inside were three things: a bank deposit slip, the signed photography contract, and a folded sheet of notepaper.

"That's not mine," she said, frowning at the notepaper.

"What is it?"

"It was stapled behind the last page. I must have missed it. The scan Troy emailed me had no extra page."

She laid the contract on the floor between us.

It was six pages, with her logo at the top.

At the bottom of page five was the usual line for the client's signature.

Troy Hartsfield had signed it in blue ink, in his square careful hand.

Romy unfolded the notepaper and read the first line.

Her face changed.

"Ivy," she said slowly. "You should see this."

"What is it?"

"I think it's for both of us."

She held it out.

It was a sheet torn from a small lined pad, the kind pilots carry in their jacket pockets.

I recognized the handwriting at once, because I had read it on grocery lists and birthday cards and the back of a menu where he'd written, Marry me?

I sat up in the blanket and took the page.

My own hands were steady.

That surprised me.

It said:

Romy,

Please read this before anything else, and don't tell Ivy until you've both made up your own minds.

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