Dear Parker,

I know, it’s been a long time since I saw you last, or spoke to you, or heard your voice. It took longer than expected to settle in, but I’m renting a cute apartment in a safe district. I’ll be starting night classes in about a week; I’ve decided I want to be a chef! Isn’t that exciting? Oh, Park… When I come home, I’ll make you something really nice. You deserve a good meal for keeping my secret. I can’t thank you enough.
It’s so beautiful in the city, especially at night. Drew and I are having a great time—we’re so happy here. He says, “Hello.” We’ll come home and visit soon. I’m sending all of my love, Parker.
Take care,
Emma


There was no return address, but it was obvious where the letter had come from. Empire State Building stamps burned an inky green as she tossed the crumpled envelope and letter into the final fire of the season. Midway through March, and it was still deadly cold in the little house. Having a great time, indeed.
Things had settled down quickly in town after Drew and Emma left. Their disappearance had been neatly swept under the rug, almost as if they had never lived there in the first place. The picture of Drew riding a tractor at four years old no longer hung in his father’s hardware store. On the yearly Christmas card from Emma’s family held the smiling faces of her parents, but her own red hair and freckles had been replaced by oblivious grin of her yellow lab, Duke. Parker, it seemed, was the only one affected, but she was forced to keep her mouth closed. As the long months dragged onward, letters arrived in relatively frequent intervals. Always from New York, always full of joy, always from Emma. And always, always, always ending with “Drew says, ‘Hello’.” Nothing more, nothing less. Parker did what she could to move on. Boys came and went easily, with Drew a world away. Summer opened fresh, dewy eyes to the world they were missing, and one by one they made the long journey to a life outside the sleepy town, leaving parker in staggered clouds of dust. Autumn kissed her face with colors and chills, a solemn reminder of just how empty it all was. Winter was simply hell. Her figure waned from slender to very noticeably thin, and the mouse-brown hair she had kept short in years past now hung limply about her slight waist. Like a broken doll or dying rose, or some mix of the two, she faded back into the anonymity of small town life and the dullness of being quite entirely alone.
It was genuine luck or perhaps the screaming need for change that, four years after they had left and on the birthday of God’s most prized and disputed saint, brought Drew and Emma simply strolling back into town. More appropriately, Emma strolled, and Drew shuffled nervously.
The first thing Parker heard when she woke up was the soft buzzing of excited voices. She smiled, yawning as she sat up. Christmas. It’s about time. She stuffed her feet into an old pair of slippers, hoping that a replacement pair was one of the gifts her parents were merrily chattering about. Clomping down the stairs like a child, it took Parker a moment to register that she was counting more than two voices. Visitors? Uncle Dan and his wife, probably. She placed a hand on the banister and jumped the last step, sliding a little on the worn-down pads of her slippers. “Parker Jean, look who’s here for Christmas!” her mother chimed, and Parker obeyed. Her eyes went wide and her smile fell, pulling her memories back to Earth with it. “Parker! How are you, Darling?” Emma squealed, leaping from the couch and catching her stunned friend in her arms. Parker said nothing, only stood there, staring past Emma’s shoulder to take in the vision of Drew fidgeting in her father’s Laz-E-Boy armchair. Slowly, she drew her arms up around Emma, closing her eyes to bite back tears full of love and indignation. “Where have you been?” Emma squeezed her tighter, a sign of silent gratitude. “Around, Baby. That’s all you need to know. But hey, I bet you wanna say hello to Drew too, huh?” she said. Parker released her with a short shrug. Drew stood and silently walked over to where the girls were. Parker flashed him a quick and sheltered smile. Drew breathed deep and smiled back. “Long time no see, Parker. Where’ve you been hiding yourself?” he said, trying to tease. Parker shrugged again. “Fields, haystacks, barn lofts. The usual,” she replied. Drew’s smile widened. “You always did manage to get yourself into the oddest places.” Parker allowed her eyes to light up, showing her friend the first happiness she had permitted herself to truly feel in quite some time. “It’s a talent,” she said. Drew laughed, then asked the fatal question: “So, Parker, did you miss me?”