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I extricate myself from his arms and flee to the bathroom. When I look at myself in the mirror, my eyes are too bright and my cheeks are flushed. I look a little panicked.
I take few minutes to get my pulse under control, to bring myself back to this present moment, even as my thoughts are wandering down the road toward Everton Estate. I am happy and I’m marrying Luke. He’s taking me to Cape Cod in a helicopter. I mean, what woman wouldn’t want that?
My stomach pinches but I ignore it.
I splash some water on my face and run a brush through my hair.
“Okay,” I say, emerging from the bathroom with a big smile on my face. “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
CADEN
“Don’t touch them,” Von warns.
“I know,” I snap.
“Clearly you don’t since you touched the first one.”
“I didn’t know what I was looking at,” I say. “There was a lot of other stuff in that drawer.”
“This is what you’ve been doing all summer?” Finn says, staring at the murder board.
I didn’t expect to have so much company when I raced home after talking to Grace. But Von and Finn were talking in the front parlor and of course went into busybody mode the moment they saw the look on my face.
I went straight to the blue study and used a couple of paperclips to pick the lock on the bottom drawer of the desk. The drawer was organized in a way that I recognized as my mother’s style. She had a pattern of fitting things together, always grouping similar colors or shapes. The contents didn’t seem all that special—there was an old candle, half burned down, in one corner on top of a round tin box of marbles like something Mom kept from her childhood. A small figurine of a dancing girl in a pink and a rabbit was perched on top of a mauve folder with a copy of her will and some other business papers. But when I took everything out, at the very bottom of the drawer, underneath the business papers, was an unmarked envelope. Inside were three sheets of paper. I took them out and unfolded the first one.
Marion—
I think about you all the time. The look you gave me yesterday told me you think of me too. Do not deny our love.
“Drop it,” Von had said instantly. I did as I was told, and the paper fluttered to the desk. Von grabbed a tissue from the box on the desk and used it to pinch the corner of the second sheet of paper and hold it up.
Finn and I had huddled around her as we all read the second letter.
Marion—
Why can you not accept we were meant to be together? I would do anything for you. Did you receive my gift? No one understands you the way I do.
“Whatarethese?” Finn said.
“Love letters?” I suggested.
“Hm,” Von had said, her brow furrowed. She placed the second letter next to the first and used the tissue to grab the final one.
Marion—
Our love is eternal. Why do you resist it? I know you feel the same. Surrender to the inevitable. I can’t wait another day. I must be with you.
“Call the sheriff,” Von had said, switching into lawyer mode. I immediately called Noah.
Now, my brother, sister, and I stare at the three letters, laid out side by side.
“There could be fingerprints,” Von says. “Or DNA.” She leans down and studies the first letter.
Finn looks up, his expression fraught. “Was Mom having an affair?”
Von and I glance at each other. Was she? I want to say absolutely not. One of the very last conversations I had with my mother was about the improbability of her and Dad’s love and yet how strong their relationship was.