The Letter(54)
She had this weird feeling that when she finished knitting the scarf, she’d find Paul. So she slowly kept knitting away, hoping her feeling was true.
~ * ~
About a month after Madeline left—oh who was he kidding, thirty-three days, exactly—Gil went to visit Aunt Josephine. He wanted to check on her and see how she was doing. He hated that she was still left hanging about Paul. Why she hadn’t gotten his letter. Where Paul was now.
As he pulled up in front of Josephine’s house, he saw his Aunt Catherine getting out of her car.
“Aunt Catherine. You’re back.”
“Just getting home. Can you grab a suitcase from my trunk?”
“I’ll bring it all in. You go on inside.”
Gil made three trips lugging in all of Aunt Catherine’s luggage. By the time he’d finished, Josephine and Catherine were chattering away in the kitchen over tea.
Gil joined the ladies after getting his obligatory glass of lemonade that Aunt Josephine had, of course, made for him when he’d called and said he was coming to visit.
“Did you have a nice trip, Aunt Catherine?”
“Yes, I did. A trip of a lifetime. I saw so much of Europe. The cities, the countryside. Castles. Ruins. I have so many photos to show you.”
“It sounds like you had a fabulous time.”
“I did. I just wish I could have talked Josephine into coming with our group.”
“I’m not much of a traveler. You know that, Catherine.”
“Ah, but there is so much to see out there.”
“I’m pretty content with my life right here, but I’m glad you get a chance to take these trips.”
“I don’t suppose I’ll ever talk you into going with our travel group.”
“I don’t suppose you will.”
“So, anything exciting happen while I was gone?”
Josephine and Gil looked at each other. He nodded to his aunt.
“Well, yes. We had some excitement.” Josephine put down her teacup. “This nice young woman, Madeline, came to visit. She was Lula Madison’s granddaughter.”
“Really? Lula’s granddaughter? What was she doing here?”
“She’d found something that belonged to me.”
“What was it?”
“A letter. From Paul.”
Gil looked at his Aunt Catherine and watched the color drain from her face. “You okay, Aunt Catherine?”
“I… yes.”
“The strangest thing. Madeline found it in a desk she inherited from her grandmother. It was hidden underneath a lining in the drawer. She knew her grandmother used to live in Comfort Crossing, so she came to Mississippi trying to find me.”
“Really?” Catherine’s voice was low.
“It was a letter Paul wrote asking me to meet him and run away with him. We’d been making plans to run away and marry. I know I kept this all hidden from you, Catherine. But Paul and I were going to run away. He got everything figured out and sent this letter to me. But I never got it. I don’t know why. Then he just disappeared. You remember when he disappeared?”
“I remember.”
“Gil and Madeline have been trying to find Paul for me now. They almost met him, but missed him. They gave him their addresses, but he said he didn’t know anyone in Comfort Crossing. I’m sure it’s him though. He’s a painter now. The whole thing is a mystery. Why I didn’t get the letter, and why Lula had it in her desk.”
Catherine pushed back from the table. “I can answer that for you. I’m afraid you’re going to be so angry with me. It was so long ago.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Paul gave me that letter to give to you. But I didn’t want you to run away and leave me there all alone with the wrath of Papa. I told Paul I’d give it to you. But I hid it that day when I went to Lula’s house. She was lining the drawer of her new desk, and I tucked it under the lining when I was helping her. She never saw it.”
“But why would you do that? And why didn’t he come looking for me?” Josephine’s delicate hand covered her heart.
Gil wanted to step in and say something, but knew he needed to let the sisters work this out.
“I was jealous that you were getting a chance to get away from Papa, from the small town. But I also thought Paul couldn’t take care of you. Not like you were used to. You’d have no money. So, I met Paul at that tree where you would meet him. I knew about it. I had followed you there a few times to find out where you were going.”
“You met him there?” Josephine’s face flushed with bewilderment.
“I told him you decided you didn’t want to go away with him. That you wanted to stay in Comfort Crossing. That you wanted to continue your schooling.”