“I tried the return address,” Margaret said. “The letters came back. I thought maybe she didn't want to be found.” Her shoulders folded inward. “Then every year I had another reason to be afraid of what she'd say.” Penny thought about the blank branch on her family tree. She could not understand how a mistake that lasted one evening had been allowed to grow for thirty-two years, but she could see that her grandmother was not asking to be excused for it.
They wrote a letter together to the address listed on the literacy center website. Margaret dictated slowly while Penny printed the words, leaving room for her grandmother to sign. It was not a demand to come home. Margaret said she had failed to stand up for her daughter and was sorry, that she had found the letters, and that she would understand if Vivian preferred not to answer. Penny added a separate page, written in uneven purple ink. My name is Penny. I am Daniel's daughter. I wish I had met you before, but I think we could start now.
The reply came as an email to Elise's address, because Margaret had included her number and asked for help if the reply was electronic. Vivian confirmed who she was by describing an old stuffed rabbit with one button eye, the window over her childhood bed, and a song Daniel used to sing when he was little. She said she had looked for the family over the years but stopped after Harold told her by telephone not to contact Margaret again. She knew about her father's death. She did not know her brother Daniel was gone.
Margaret wept when Elise read that part aloud. Vivian's words were careful but not cruel. She wanted to meet, she said, but she had spent decades learning to live without expecting the family to want her. She could drive to Millbrook on Saturday, October seventeenth, and perhaps they might begin with lunch somewhere neutral. She suggested the Magnolia Diner, which she remembered from childhood, and asked for a reply before making the trip. Margaret stared at the screen for nearly an hour before she said yes.
The next week became a series of small preparations. Margaret pressed her nicest cardigan and wondered whether Vivian still liked tea with lemon. Elise helped make sure the diner could accommodate a quiet table and rearranged her work schedule so she could join them when her shift ended. Penny picked out a blue ribbon because her father used to say it matched the sky after rain. On the morning of the meeting, Margaret took the black-and-white photograph from her purse, looked at it for several minutes, and put it back.
That morning, Grant called about the house. He had received a preliminary estimate from a buyer and wanted Margaret to sign a paper allowing more inspections. She said she was busy. When he asked what could be more important than deciding her future, Penny blurted out that they were going to meet Aunt Vivian. There was a silence so sharp that even the kitchen clock sounded loud.