‘Well, obviously Kyle keeps going on at me to open it – says I shouldn’t leave it so long, as if there’s some kind of expiry date on it.’
Her mind was taken back to the conversation that morning with her brother. His urgency had rattled her more than she let on.
‘And you know that usually I don’t agree with anything your brother says, but in this case, I think I do.’
‘Why? Why is everyone so obsessed with what’s in that letter? It won’t bring her back. It won’t change anything. It’s just words. Empty fucking words.’
‘But they areherwords, Olivia. They’re Leah’s words foryou.’
A weariness crept up into Olivia’s heart. Was she going to keep fighting this? Could she really carry on convincing herself that she wasn’t intrigued by Leah’s letter?
‘And what if they’re bad?’ The childlike voice escaped from her lips.
‘Bad? Why on earth would they be bad?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe I wasn’t there enough. Maybe I didn’t do enough.’ Her words began to spiral, along with her thoughts. ‘Maybe she was angry at me. Maybe she felt like I didn’t care enough.’
‘Stop!’ Kate interrupted. ‘Leah adored you. She loved thevery bones of you, and she knew that you felt the same about her. You dideverythingyou could to support her. But until you open the letter, you will never know what she wanted to say.’
Kate held the envelope out, and cautiously, Olivia took it.
‘I’m scared.’
‘I know.’
‘Opening it makes this whole thing real.’
‘And not opening it doesn’t bring her back either.’
Before she could stop herself, Olivia ripped open the letter and turned it upside down. Two pieces of paper fell to the floor, and she hastily plucked them from the carpet. The sight of her little sister’s handwriting made her heart hurt.
To my Liv, the best big sister in the world,
Surprise!
God, I wish I could see your face right now. I’m sorry for keeping this from you, but if you even had the slightest whiff of what I was planning, you’d have killed me before the cancer finally had a chance to. I’ve made sure the flight date is flexible (who knows at what point you’ve decided to open this!), but unfortunately it’s non-refundable. You can’t deny a dying girl her money or her wish, can you?
Go. Travel. Explore. Enjoy this thing called life!
Do it for me, my darling, brave sister.
I love you eternally.
Leah x
Olivia’s mind was spinning but her eyes stayed fixed on the words in front of her.
She couldn’t have.
She wouldn’t have …
But realization began to dawn as she scanned the second piece of paper, her eyes competing with her mouth as to which could grow the widest.
‘This is confirmation of your booking for flight BA46369 departing from London Heathrow to …’ Olivia read out loud, her heart climbing higher and higher with each sound she made. ‘Delhi,India…’
‘Shut up!’ Kate burst into life, snatching the paper from Olivia’s grip. ‘No way!’
‘This can’t be real.’
