Free Please Forgive Me by Melissa Hill

aside the box of letters and turning on the TV. It was late and she was tired, and she really should know better than to let something like this preoccupy her. Goodness knows her snooping had got her into enough trouble in the past!
    She really should make the effort to get out and about a bit more; maybe join a club or something – anything that would help occupy her time and stop her poking her nose into other people’s business. Yes, that’s what she’d do, she decided, flicking through the channels to try and find something interesting to watch.
    But no matter how hard she tried to concentrate on the TV and forget about the letters, Leonie just couldn’t stop thinking about Helena and Nathan and what might have gone amiss in their relationship.
     
     
    My darling,
     
    How are you? Still missing you like crazy but more than anything else, I guess I just hope you’re happy. I still can’t tell you enough how sorry I am, and I hope that someday you’ll understand, and maybe some time in the future, if it’s not too much to ask, you might be able to forgive me.
    I can’t stop thinking about you and how much I miss being with you. I miss your smile, your laugh, the scent of your skin, and it’s driving me crazy not being able to hold you close and tell you how much I love you.
    As I write this, I can just picture you sitting in your favourite place on the windowsill gazing out at the bridge. Maybe the morning fog is slowly cascading over the towers and sweeping into the bay that way you love. You’ve always adored the bridge and although I’ve never been able to share your fascination with it, how could it not be special to me too, when it’s where we first met?
    I still remember how you looked on that day, your beautiful green eyes screwed up in intensity as you tried to find the perfect angle for the perfect shot and your long hair blowing in the breeze. Your camera was pretty much an extension of you back then, and you loved shooting the bridge from every conceivable angle. I can still remember how amazing the weather was that morning, the flaming orange of the towers an incredible contrast against the deep blue sky.   You were aiming the lens upwards, trying to capture that visual when this goofball crashed into you and ruined it all…
     
     
    Lying in bed, the letter open in her hand, Leonie felt a lump in her throat. He sounded so lovely!
    It was one am and despite herself, all that evening she couldn’t stop thinking about the letters and hadn’t been able to resist opening another one to see if she could find something that might help her restore them to their rightful owner. And blast it; she was just dying to find out what had happened to the couple!
    Clearly this letter wasn’t going to enlighten her much, but from his writing, Nathan really did sound like a lovely, gentle, romantic guy. His heartfelt words and account of how he and Helena had met on the bridge now made her feel almost like she was personally acquainted with them, and when reading that Helena too liked to sit by the bay window and stare out at the bridge, Leonie had felt an odd sense of kinship towards her.
    I miss your smile, your laugh, the scent of your skin, and it’s driving me crazy not being able to hold you close and tell you how much I love you.
    Where it had all gone wrong? Now Leonie really wanted to know. He and Helena had clearly been madly in love right from the off, so what on earth had happened? What was so bad that she couldn’t forgive him?

Please Forgive Me.
    What on earth had this guy done?
     
     
     

Chapter 7
     
     
    The following morning, she decided to confide in Marcy about opening the letters.
    ‘I know I shouldn’t have done it, but I just couldn’t help it,’ she said.
    It was just before eight am, and she and her boss were out back loading the first Valentine’s Day deliveries into the van before the store opened and the mania began.
    ‘You do know that opening someone else’s mail is a