she looked at me had become heavier than the secret itself.
When Michael got sick, she decided to tell me immediately.
But Michael asked him to wait.
She was afraid of spending the last months of her life watching our family fall apart.
And Susan agreed.
Once again, they had made the decision for me.
I stood up and opened the hotel room door.
Susan understood.
She got up too.
When he reached the threshold, he turned around.
—Yesterday I said it would be our last photo as friends because I knew that, after today, you would never call me friend again.
I looked at her.
Thirty-seven years of memories flashed through my mind.
Two little girls in a schoolyard.Our first school dance.
My wedding.
The birth of my children.
My mother’s funeral.
Michael’s last night in the hospital.
And Susan was present in each of those memories.
But
