He remembered my cramps came every month and always had ginger tea ready before I even asked. He knew I was afraid of the dark and never forgot to leave the nightlight on. No matter how late his business dinners ran, as long as he was sober enough to type, he'd send me a goodnight text. His plans for the future always included me. He'd even picked out names for our children.
But when I thought about that diary in the drawer, the certainty crumbled.
I'd come home that afternoon and couldn't resist any longer. I opened the drawer.
Beneath the yellowed photograph was a journal.
"April 3, 2017. Lena said she's like my shadow—wherever there's light, we'll never be apart. She's always afraid the light will go out and I won't be able to find her. How could that happen? She's taken root inside my heart. The only way to lose her would be to cut the heart out entirely."
"May 20, 2017. Lena gave me a photo of us together. She said we'd never be separated."