In the autumn of 1995, Luna finds herself at a sprawling estate sale on the outskirts of Millbrook, Indiana—a town known for its yearly apple festival and little else. The Wainwright house sits at the end of a gravel lane, its porch sagging under the weight of dead potted ferns. Inside, among the chipped dishes and musty quilts, a solid oak secretary desk catches her eye. It's locked. The seller—a weathered woman in a cardigan—shrugs and says the key was lost years ago. Luna buys it anyway. That night, she discovers a hidden compartment and a stack of letters tied with twine. The letters are from a woman named Lila to a man called Calvin, all dated 1968. They start sweet, then sour, then spiral into accusations and threats. The last letter is different—it's from Calvin to Lila, written in a shaky hand, apologizing for something he says he 'had to do.' There's no return address, no postmark. Luna drives back to Millbrook the next morning. The house is empty. The desk's previous owner, she learns, was a man named Calvin Wainwright. He died in the house in 1995, alone, of a heart attack. The seller was his niece. She tells Luna that Calvin never married, never had children. 'He always said he was waiting for someone,' she says. 'I think he meant Lila.' Luna asks what happened to Lila. The niece shrugs. 'Ran off, I guess. Nobody knows.' But Luna found one more thing in the desk—a pressed white carnation, dry as paper, tucked behind the letters. She keeps it. Sometimes, late at night, she swears she can smell it. Not dried flowers. Something else. Something sharp and green, like a garden just after rain.