27 Dec
Zelda,

I did something stupid

Looks like I had more to drink than I thought in our last port and

There's something I kept meaning to talk to you about but it never seemed like the right time, but

I got a letter from Jo Smith yesterday and

I got a letter from Jo Smith yesterday in response to

I accidentally sent Jo Smith a letter last week and yesterday I got a response from her

I wrote to Jo last week. I'm sorry.

I miss you. I wish we could talk.

I made a mistake and I want to explain it to you but I don't even know where to start. I don't know how to explain it. I don't know why I did it. I don't know —

"I don't know" is probably the last thing you'll want to hear from me right now.

I ran into Jo back in October, while I was getting ready to leave. It just occurred to me that I never told you. I wasn't hiding it, or anything. Just busy, and it honestly was such a small interaction it hardly seemed consequential. But I guess I've been thinking about it a lot. I should have told you, probably.