The light from the lamp made the edges of the papers look sharp. I traced the date on the second policy with my finger. Nineteen years ago, the same day as ours. It was like he had split his life right down the middle that morning.

Richard stood up after a while and said he was going to the garage to think. I watched him walk out the door. His shoulders were slumped more than usual. I stayed right there at the table and let everything he had said roll around in my head.

The boy would be in his thirties now. That much I could figure out. I wondered if he ever asked about his father. If he knew Richard had another family. Those thoughts kept coming back no matter how hard I tried to push them away.

I got up once to look out the window. The truck was still there, the hood up like always. Richard was standing beside it with his hands in his pockets. He wasn’t working, just standing. I turned away before he could see me watching.

When I sat back down the chair made a little squeak. I had bought that set of chairs at a yard sale twenty years ago. They had seemed sturdy then. Everything seemed sturdier back then.

That postcard came back to me while I sat there. It was one of those cheap ones with the picture of the old courthouse in Fayetteville. He had left it on the dresser by accident. When I asked him he said it was from a meeting. I believed him because why wouldn’t I. Now I wondered if he had seen the boy that trip. If he had taken him out for ice cream or something. The thought made my stomach turn a little but I couldn’t stop it.

He came in one more time before bed. “I’m sorry,” he said again. That was all. Just those two words.

I nodded but didn’t answer. He went down the hall and I heard the bedroom door close. The house settled into that nighttime quiet it always does. I sat there a little longer with the papers in front of me.

Then I picked them up and put them in the drawer where we keep the bills. The drawer clicked shut and that was that. I turned off the light and went to bed too, though I didn’t sleep much. The truth was out now and there was no putting it back.