Robbers

epilogue

In three weeks, Ella had received an unmarked letter in the mail with no return address. It was a note from Julie Hunter, where she apologized for leaving without saying goodbye to or thanking Ella. She had moved to an apartment close to Ryan's new location out of state. Julie must have written how sorry she was at least ten times in that letter, but she couldn't tell Ella where she was because Ryan had begged her not to. Ella had no way of finding either Julie or Ryan Hunter.

At the time, Ella had broken. The people who had consumed her nights and days were suddenly gone, with all ties to Ella cut in just the course of a week. She had been devastated, skipping school and spending sleepless nights worrying about Ryan and his mother and what Ella could have done differently.

But life didn't stop, so Ella couldn't either.

After she graduated college, Ella moved out and rented an apartment just outside of New York City. She had gotten an internship at a business firm there during her senior year, so after graduation the company offered her a steady income if she chose to move closer and work full-time.

The apartment was cheap and small and lonely sometimes, but Ella was happy. Nina visited every once in a while, from her med school an hour away. She only saw her parents and Rosie sometimes, but they were all busy with work and Rosie was stuck finishing high school.

For a year and a half after graduation, Ella never saw her hometown once.

Ella remembered two days late. It struck her early Saturday afternoon, when she was sitting in her makeshift living room, exhausted and sorting through a swamped list of emails and drinking black coffee. She'd set the mug down on the arm of the couch slowly as the date in the bottom right corner of her laptop screen glared up at her.

It had been six years. Ryan was out of jail.

Ella had expected him to call her, but he didn't. She had expected, foolishly, for Ryan to show up at her old house's doorstep asking to see her. But her parents never mentioned having seen Ryan when they called.

Five years ago, Ella would have fallen apart all over again. She would have wondered what she'd done wrong to not even receive a phone call from him. But a lot of time had passed since Ryan had sat across from Ella with an inch of glass between them, since Ryan had said goodbye and cut Ella out from his life. A lot of time had passed, and Ella continued her life as normal even when the six years were done.

Rosie's high school graduation was the first time Ella returned home in nearly two years. She drove home early Friday morning to stay for the weekend, taking the day off work so she could make it with plenty of time before the graduation that night. Rosie had been flushed with excitement when the bus dropped her off after her last day of classes that afternoon, and Ella had greeted her on the porch, warm in the spring sunlight.

Her parents had dressed up for the occasion, so Ella had worn a loose-fitted white dress that hung just above her knees, her normally wild hair twisted into a half-up half-down style. At the last minute, when her parents were urging her out the door to take pictures on the lawn, Ella had gone with nude heels.

It was strange returning to her former high school. The ceremony was held in the gym, crowded with white plastic folding chairs and the flashes of parents' cameras. Ella sat beside her mom and dad with her legs crossed at the ankles, the bouquet of roses tucked beneath her chair. When she craned her neck, Ella could see Rosie sitting among the other students in a black robe, and she waved when Rosie twisted in her seat to catch her eye.