"You were trying to protect my right to choose."
"I was wrong," I said.
Elise's eyes immediately filled with tears.
I forced myself to continue.
"You were trying to protect my right to choose. I let him convince me that you were trying to take it away from me."
Peter hugged me first.
Then Elise did it.
In the weeks that followed, I changed the locks and removed Harold from every emergency form I had added him to.
The guests stayed for lunch. We removed the cake topper and served the cake anyway. Nora sat with us and answered as best she could. She said Harold had done similar variations before, never this deep, always gathering clues until he could sound like he belonged in someone else's life.
In the weeks that followed, I changed the locks and removed Harold from every emergency form I had added him to. My kids helped, but they didn't take control. Every signature was mine. Every decision was mine.
I didn't keep Harold's notebook.
Nora returned Daniel's letters after making copies of the few pages that concerned her family. I put them in the cedar box where I kept our wedding photos .
I didn't keep Harold's notebook.
Peter arrived first for Sunday lunch and sat in one of the chairs.
The following spring, Elise helped me move the flowering arch to the edge of the garden and plant roses around it. We placed the same two chairs underneath.
Peter arrived first for Sunday lunch and sat in one of the chairs.
Elise passed through the gate a few minutes later and took the other one.
For the first time, neither chair was empty.
