I forgot that she can’t …

"That was Shelby's name… Right?"

"Shelby's name…."

Clara's expectant voice reminded James of something very crucial. He had been with her for so long that he had basically forgotten this. Clara could only recognize a few characters and was not necessarily learned. She had never had any formal education in her life.

At the time she met James, she had wished to get into an adult education program, but James liked her the way she was, and it had taken a backseat in her life. Clara had never felt the need to learn, but her children had thought otherwise. They had taught her to recognize the alphabet and their names, at the least when they realized that they could not get her to complete a full lesson.