I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to meet—then again, maybe we did. Maybe I stood behind you in the grocery line or watched you jogging on the path that runs below our house. Maybe you’re one of the pretty nurses who cared for me at the end of my life. Or maybe you’re a stranger from a faraway place. Not that I care whether you’re pretty or clever or accomplished. All that matters to me is that you’ll be kind to the people I love.

A bit of advice now, if you don’t mind.

Being married to Burke wasn’t always easy. We were happy in the end, but we had to earn that happiness. We had to learn patience and forgiveness, sometimes the hard way.

Like me, you’ll learn as you go. But don’t let anyone, not our friends, not even Burke, hold me up as an example. I was the woman Burke needed when he was starting a family, building a business, and raising a daughter. But you’re the woman for the man he is now. That’s why he chose you. That’s why he loves you. Feel free to be that woman.

Here, Kate’s handwriting began to waver, as if writing had exhausted what little strength she had left. But still, the letter continued.

Burke can be stubborn and cantankerous. But you’ll find that those times are when he needs you the most. And if you show that you need him in return, that can be the greatest gift of all.

Wishing you a lifetime of happiness,

Kate

Allison reread the letter through a blur of tears. When she thought of the dying Kate, her hair gone, her body wasted, writing with love to the woman who would take her place . . .

There were no words.

She lay on her back, holding the letter to her heart. If Burke had given it to her on their wedding day, she would have been touched. But now, knowing what she knew of Kate, reading those words was like opening a vein.

Many things in the letter had struck home. But after clashing with Burke last night and stalking off in a huff, it was the final paragraph that went straight to Allison’s heart. Was that what Burke had been trying to tell her when he’d argued against her working—simply that he needed her? Not as a business partner, but as a life companion.

And when was the last time she’d let Burke know that she needed him? After the accident, she’d just barged in, taken over and set out to save the day for his business. She’d treated him like a helpless invalid, not like the still powerful man he was. No wonder he’d hated it.

What a fool she’d been.