Izzy exhaled slowly.
“That’s exactly what I want to know.”
The weight between them deepened.
Caitlin looked down at the letter, then back at the room.
“She loved someone here,” she said. “She was building something here.”
Somewhere outside, wind brushed softly through the trees.
“And then she’s… gone?”
Izzy shook her head.
“No,” she said. “That doesn’t feel right.”
Caitlin handed the letter back carefully.
Izzy folded it along the same worn crease and slipped it into her jacket pocket.
They stood there a moment longer.
Then—
“We can’t leave this up here,” Caitlin said.
Izzy nodded immediately. “No.”
Caitlin turned in a slow circle.
“All of this needs to come down,” she said. “Somewhere we can actually see it. Lay it out. Go through it piece by piece.”
“The barn,” Izzy said. “The big table—we can spread everything out.”
“Exactly.”
A heartbeat passed.
Caitlin’s expression shifted—decision settling in.
“And I’m calling Burke.”
Izzy glanced at her. “Already?”
Caitlin didn’t hesitate.
“Yes.”
She gestured around the room.
“Because this isn’t just someone passing through. Not with this.”
A small nod toward Izzy’s pocket.
“And not with that.”
Izzy leaned back, crossing her arms.
