Chapter 7: The Secret Behind the Locked Drawer
David barely slept that night.
After Jasmine finally went home, he remained downstairs long after Jessica had gone to bed, staring at the birthday photograph on the shelf.
The image showed him carrying Jasmine on his shoulders beside the lake.
Her arms were wrapped around his forehead, and both of them were laughing.
He remembered how she had begged him to take her fishing that morning.
He remembered how she had cried when he told her they needed to leave before sunset.
And he remembered promising her that there would always be room for her beside him, no matter how much their lives changed.
He had meant every word.
Yet somehow, over the past two years, Jasmine had begun acting like a visitor who needed permission to exist in his home.
David rubbed his face.
He couldn't stop thinking about the things she had told him.
The comments Jessica had made about his new family.
The unsent message.
The photographs packed away in a cardboard box.
And the way Jasmine had apologized for arriving on his birthday.
None of those things had happened in a single afternoon.
They were signs of something that had been building while he was busy believing everything was fine.
At six the next morning, David heard Jessica moving around upstairs.
He went into the kitchen and made coffee.
When she entered, she stopped at the sight of him already dressed.
“You're awake early,” she said.
“I didn't sleep much.””
Jessica reached for a mug.
“Neither did I.””
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then David placed his cup on the counter.
“We need to finish our conversation.””
Jessica's shoulders tightened.
“About Jasmine again?””
“Yes.””
She sighed.
“David, I apologized for yesterday.””
“You admitted you said things you shouldn't have said. You didn't explain how things reached that point.””
“What more do you want from me?””
“The truth.””
Jessica stared at him.
He continued.
“I want to understand why my daughter believes she's unwelcome here. I want to know why her belongings were packed away, why she was afraid to tell me how she felt, and why you told me she wasn't coming when she was standing outside our door.””
Jessica looked down at her coffee.
“I thought it was better for everyone if she left.””
“Why?””
“Because I knew you'd spend the entire afternoon worrying about her.””
David frowned.
“Why would I worry about my daughter being at my birthday party?””
Jessica's fingers tightened around the mug.
“You always make me feel like I have to compete with her.””
David closed his eyes briefly.
“We discussed this last night. You aren't competing with her.””
“That doesn't change how I feel.””
“No. But your feelings don't give you permission to hurt her.””
Jessica looked at him sharply.
“So now I'm a terrible person?””
“I didn't say that.””
“You don't have to. The way you look at me tells me everything.””
David took a slow breath.
He wasn't going to let the conversation become another argument about whether Jessica felt appreciated.
Her feelings mattered.
But so did Jasmine's.
And he could no longer allow one person's discomfort to erase another person's pain.
“I need you to tell me something,” he said.
“Did you ever ask Jasmine not to come here when I wasn't around?””
Jessica didn't answer immediately.
That silence was enough to make David's stomach tighten.
“Jessica?””
“I told her that she should call first.””
“That's reasonable. Did you tell her she wasn't welcome?””
“No.””
“Did you tell her that I needed space from her?””
Jessica looked toward the window.
“I may have told her that you were busy and she shouldn't interrupt.””
“How many times?””
“I don't know.””
David studied her face.
She wasn't looking at him.
He had seen that expression before, usually when she wanted a difficult subject to disappear.
“Is there anything else I should know?””
Jessica's head snapped up.
“What does that mean?””
“It means I don't want to discover another part of this story next week.””
She set down her mug.
“You're treating me like a criminal.””
“I'm asking my wife to be honest with me.””
Jessica's eyes filled with tears.
For a moment, David thought she might finally tell him something important.
Instead, she shook her head.
“I can't keep doing this. Every conversation turns into an interrogation about Jasmine.””
She left the kitchen before he could respond.
David remained by the counter, watching the doorway long after she had disappeared.
He didn't follow her.
He needed time to think.
Later that morning, he went upstairs to the spare room where they stored old paperwork, photographs, and household documents.
He had decided to look for Jasmine's remaining belongings.
If Jessica had moved things from her bedroom, he wanted to know where they had gone.
He opened the closet and found several storage boxes stacked against the wall.
One contained Christmas decorations.
Another held old tax records.
The third was filled with children's books and school projects.
David recognized Jasmine's handwriting on several folders.
He began sorting through them carefully.
Then he noticed a small wooden drawer unit tucked behind a suitcase.
It had belonged to Jasmine's mother.
David had kept it after her death, partly because Jasmine loved it and partly because he couldn't bring himself to throw away anything that had once belonged to the woman he had lost.
The top drawer was locked.
David frowned.
He didn't remember locking it.
He searched the desk for the little key he thought might fit.
After several minutes, he found it in a cup filled with old batteries and spare screws.
The key turned with a soft click.
Inside lay several envelopes, a folded school certificate, and a small stack of printed photographs.
David recognized the envelopes immediately.
They were letters he had written to Jasmine when he traveled for work.
Some were from years earlier.
Others were more recent.
He remembered leaving the letters on his desk before business trips, intending to give them to Jasmine when he returned.
He couldn't remember whether he had given her all of them.
He lifted the stack.
Beneath it was a folded piece of paper with Jessica's handwriting on the outside.
The words made him stop.
*Things Jasmine needs to understand.*
David unfolded the page.
The note was written in short, sharp sentences.
It described how Jasmine needed to become more independent.
It complained that she expected too much attention from her father.
It said she needed to understand that David and Jessica were building a life together and that the old arrangement could not continue forever.
Then he reached the final paragraph.
If she keeps trying to make him feel guilty, he will eventually resent her. She needs to learn that his marriage comes first.
David read it twice.
He felt a chill move through him.
This wasn't a note written in the heat of a birthday argument.
The handwriting was neat.
The sentences were deliberate.
It had been written before the party.
Perhaps long before.
He turned the page over.
On the back, Jessica had added a list of dates.
Several corresponded with days Jasmine had planned to visit.
Beside each date were brief comments.
Changed her mind.
School project.
Too busy.
Will visit another time.
David stared at the list.
He remembered those days.
He remembered asking Jessica whether Jasmine had called.
He remembered being told that she had other plans.
Had Jasmine actually changed her mind?
Or had Jessica been making decisions on her behalf?
His hands began to tremble.
He returned the note to the drawer, then removed the remaining papers.
At the bottom lay a small envelope addressed to Jasmine.
It was sealed.
David recognized his own handwriting.
He opened it carefully.
Inside was a letter he had written almost a year earlier.
Sweetheart,
I know things have been different lately, and I want you to know that none of those changes affect how much I love you.
You will always have a place here.
If you ever feel uncertain about anything, please talk to me.
Love, Dad.
David stared at the letter.
He remembered writing it after Jasmine had canceled a visit.
He had been worried that she was feeling neglected, so he had written something he hoped would reassure her.
But he had never given it to her.
He was certain of that now.
The envelope had never been opened.
He stood motionless in the spare room.
Then he heard footsteps in the hallway.
Jessica appeared in the doorway.
When she saw the open drawer and the papers in David's hands, her face drained of color.
“What are you doing?””
David looked at her.
“What is this?””
Jessica glanced at the note.
For one brief moment, she looked as though she might deny knowing anything about it.
Then she recovered.
“You went through my things?””
“This is Jasmine's drawer.””
“It was being used for storage.””
“Why was this note in here?””
Jessica stepped into the room.
“Give it to me.””
David held the paper away from her.
“No.””
“David, you have no idea what you're looking at.””
“Then explain it.””
She looked at the letter in his other hand.
Her expression changed.
“You weren't supposed to find that.””
The words fell between them.
David went completely still.
He looked from the letter to Jessica's face.
“What does that mean?””
She swallowed.
“I mean, it was old.””
“You said I wasn't supposed to find it.””
“That's not what I meant.””
David's voice became quiet.
“Did you keep my letters from Jasmine?””
Jessica said nothing.
He looked into the drawer again.
There were several envelopes.
Some had been opened and resealed.
Others were still intact.
He picked up another one.
“Did you keep these from her?””
Jessica stepped closer.
“I was trying to protect our marriage.””
David stared at her in disbelief.
“By hiding letters I wrote to my daughter?””
“You were constantly making promises you couldn't keep.””
“I wrote to tell her I loved her.””
“And every time she received something like that, she expected more time with you!””
David's face hardened.
“So you decided she shouldn't receive them?””
Jessica's eyes filled with tears.
“I thought if she stopped depending on you so much, things would become easier.””
David slowly lowered the letter.
For months, he had wondered why Jasmine seemed less willing to reach out.
He had assumed she was growing older.
He had thought she was becoming independent.
Now he was beginning to understand that some of the distance between them might not have been natural at all.
He had written letters to his daughter.
He had promised her she would always belong.
And someone had placed those promises in a locked drawer.
David looked at Jessica.
“How many?””
She stared at him.
“How many what?””
“How many letters did you keep from her?””
Jessica's lips parted, but no answer came.
David felt the room grow unnaturally quiet.
Because whatever Jessica had done, the letters proved one thing beyond doubt.
May you like
There had been a time when he tried to reach his daughter.
And someone had made sure she never knew.
