Chapter 2: What Harper Knew
She reached into her small silver purse and took out a photograph.
Old. Soft at the corners from handling.
A younger Roland, maybe twenty years younger, standing next to a woman I knew better than my own reflection.
My mother.
« I found this in my dad’s desk three days ago, » Harper said quietly. « Along with a folder. Your name is in the folder, Cody. Your mom’s name. Dates. A lawyer’s letter. »
I couldn’t speak.
« I wasn’t cold to you tonight because you’re poor, » she said, and her voice cracked a little. « I was cold because I’ve spent three days knowing something you don’t, and I didn’t know how to sit in a car next to it. »
I made myself ask.
« Knowing what? »
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