The room was utterly still.

“Ten years later,” Ellen whispered, “I walked into a grocery store in another town. And there he was. Daniel. Alive. Laughing. Holding a little girl’s hand.”

The entire room gasped with her.

“I thought I was seeing a ghost. I ran out before he could see me. Later, I learned the truth. The army had made a mistake—another Daniel in his unit had died. But by the time I found my Daniel again, he already had a family. A wife. A daughter with the same dimples I once loved.”

Her voice softened.

“I let him go. But I never forgot. And I never broke my promise. I told him he’d see me in white someday. So here I am.”