Time for a letter from Vera (3)
I believe the answer is:
era
'time' is the definition.
(era is a kind of time)
'a letter from vera' is the wordplay.
'a letter' becomes 'v'.
'from' is a deletion indicator.
'vera' with 'v' taken out is 'ERA'.
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for era that I've seen before include "Distinctive period of time" , "Stage" , "Geological age" , "Long historical period" , "Long stretch" .)