When Jonathan’s letter first reached Clara’s hands, it carried more than words—it carried hope. Step into Clara’s unspoken thoughts in this exclusive glimpse from Letters from Willow Creek.
A few of you mentioned how much you enjoyed stepping into Clara’s unspoken moments — the thoughts she kept tucked behind her calm face. Here’s another glimpse, lingering on that very instant she first held his letter.
She didn’t say it aloud, but she thought it as she held the envelope: Why me? Why now?
The paper felt heavier than it should have, carrying more than words — carrying a question about her very future. His letter was steady, hopeful, but she could read what lingered between the lines: loneliness, longing, and a kind of waiting she understood all too well.
Her own life had been whittled down to absences. The echo of her father’s cough still haunted the rooms of Philadelphia. Friends had moved on. Obligations had slipped through her hands until there was nothing left to bind her. She had stayed and stayed until she realized there was no one left to stay for.
Yet as she traced the edge of his handwriting with her eyes, she let herself imagine something different: a table not empty, a horizon not closed off by sorrow. Could hope really cross the miles in ink and paper? Could the echo of one heart reach another? She wanted to believe it. She needed to believe it.
So she wrote back. Not with boldness — not with a promise — but with the only thing she had left to offer: honesty. She answered because she couldn’t quite silence the fragile voice inside that whispered, What if?
She hoped her response wouldn’t sound too plain, too thin. She hoped he would hear in her words the faint thread of courage she hadn’t yet dared to name. She hoped he might see her not only as someone who had endured loss, but as someone who still carried a spark of beginning.
She didn’t write all of that, of course. But she thought it as she sealed her response laying her hope—quiet, trembling, but real—between the lines.
This excerpt is part of the blog series inspired by Juliet Ellison’s historical romance novel, Letters from Willow Creek. These “extra” reflections don’t appear in the book itself, but they’re woven from Clara’s journey within it. Clara’s inner voice threads quietly through the story. You can follow her full journey here.
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