The first letter arrived the day my husband was buried. It was postmarked from the state penitentiary, and contained a single sentence:I’ll wait forever if I have to. It was signed by Dante, a man I didn’t know.

Out of simple curiosity, I wrote back to ask him what exactly he was waiting for. His reply?You. I told the mystery man he had the wrong girl.

He said he didn’t. I said we’d never met, but he said I was wrong. We went back and forth, exchanging letters every week that grew increasingly more intimate.

Then one day, the letters stopped. When I found out why, it was already too late. Dante was at my doorstep.