The Letter(55)

“And he believed you?”

“He had no reason not to believe me.”

“How could you have done this to me?” Josephine’s normally quiet Southern voice rose in anger.

“I was young. You were young. I thought you were crazy to run away with a kid with no money and no future.”

“So you decided to lie to me. All that time when you saw me crying, you never said a word.” Josephine shot her sister a penetrating stare.

“We were so young. It was so long ago.” Catherine shrugged her shoulders.

“I’ve wondered my whole life why he left me. Where he was. You let me wonder about this for years.” Josephine's eyes flashed in scalding fury.

“I had no idea that you even thought about him anymore. You met Benjamin. You seemed happy.”

“I trusted you. I always thought you were more than a sister, that you were my best friend. I can’t even look at you right now.” Josephine stood up, clutching the edge of the table in a white-knuckled grasp. “If you’ll excuse me, Gil, I’m going up to my room. Oh, and Catherine, I think you should find another place to live. I’m sure Gil will take your things to some hotel for you until you can find a new place to live.”

“Josephine, don’t be like that. We were just kids.” Catherine’s voice held a touch of pleading.

“Gil, please take her suitcases back out to her car. She can send someone for the rest of her things after she finds a place to stay.”

“Aunt Josephine…”

“Gilbert. Please. Do as I say.”

Gil could see the pain in his aunt’s eyes. The pain in both his aunts’ eyes. It was not the right moment to cross Aunt Josephine. She needed time. “Come on, Aunt Catherine. I’ll load up your car. Why don’t you come back to Comfort Crossing for a bit.”

“That’s a splendid idea.” Josephine’s voice was cold. She spun around and stalked out of the room.

Catherine sighed. “I made a mistake back then but I thought I was doing the right thing for her. Paul was just a kid. There is no way he could have taken care of both of them.”

“Let’s give Aunt Josephine some time to sort this all out. I can get you settled at the Sweet Tea if you’d like.”

“That sounds fine. I hope Josephine calms down after a bit. I had no idea she even thought about Paul anymore. No idea at all.”

~ * ~

Josephine listened to the sound of the anniversary clock on the dresser ticking away the minutes. The house was silent except for the clock. She’d so been looking forward to having Catherine back home again. Having someone else in the house. She’d enjoyed having her sister live with her these last few years. But now, she couldn’t even bear to look at her.

Josephine sat down on her bed, the letter from Paul in her hands. The paper was now worn and wrinkled from the millions of times she’d read and reread the note. She traced his signature with her finger.

O. Her One and Only. Her heart clutched in her chest, writhing again with the pain of loss. She forced herself to take small, regular breaths to calm herself.

How could her sister have done that to her? Kept the letter from Paul and lied to him that she wasn’t going to come meet him. All those lost years they could have been together.

Her heart exploded in anger towards her sister. For what she’d done. For what might have been with Paul.

The sun cut a swath across the room, slowing moving across the carpet until dusk finally smothered the sunbeams. Still, she sat on her bed cloaked in betrayal. Unable to believe her sister had done something so traitorous.

They’d been so close when they were young, but had drifted apart for years. Now, in the last few years with Catherine living here, they had connected again.

She’d miss that closeness they had, but she could no longer trust her sister. She hoped in time they could be civil to each other at family gatherings—she did have her Southern manners—but that was all. No more sharing their lives.

All these years Catherine had kept this secret from her. Even back when she knew how miserable Josephine was when Paul had disappeared. When her heart was breaking. But not a word.

Josephine finally stood up and placed the letter on her dresser. She walked out of the dark room and headed to the kitchen to make dinner for one.

~ * ~

Gil got his Aunt Catherine settled into a room at the Sweet Tea. Rebecca and Larry had been gracious and not asked any questions about why his aunt needed a place to stay. He’d have offered her a room at his house, but right now the two guest rooms were torn apart in his remodeling extravaganza. To be honest, they’d been like that for over a year. It was probably time to get them finished.