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“You’re lying.” Her voice was shrill.
Daphne shook her head. “You know that male assistant you made sure he hired so there’d be no funny business at the office? Douglas? Well, he’s an old friend of mine. See, his sisterdoeshave CF. Julie’s Smile has been a tremendous help to his family. He’s been spying on Jackson, and he finally got the account numbers he needed to go to the feds. Take a good look around. You may not have all this for long.” She started to walk away, then stopped and turned back. “But at least you still have Jackson.”
Daphne walked out of the house for the last time. As the driver pulled away, she watched as the house receded from sight. How different it looked to her now from when she’d first seen it. Settling back against the seat, she took in, for the last time, the magnificence of each house they passed, and wondered what secrets each of them held. She grew lighter with each passing mile, and when they drove out of the pristine borders of Bishops Harbor, she left the pain and shame she’d lived with while she was still its prisoner behind her. A new life awaited—one where no one terrorized her in the middle of the night or made her pretend to be something she was not. A life where her children would grow up secure and loved, free to be whomever and whatever they desired to be.
She looked up at the sky and imagined her beloved Julie watching from above. She pulled out a pen and the small notepad she kept in her purse and began to write.
My darling Julie,
I often wonder if I’d have made different choices if you were still here. A sister can keep you from making those big mistakes. You wouldn’t have allowed my need to save everyone blur my vision. If only I could have saved you, maybe I would have tried harder to save myself.
How I miss confiding in you, in having that one person that I always knew was in my corner no matter what, sharing my life. And how foolish I was to think that I could ever find that same solace from anyone else.
I suppose I have been looking for you everywhere since I lost you. But I know now, I didn’t lose you. You’re still here. In the twinkle in Bella’s eyes and the kindness in Tallulah’s heart. You live on in them and in me, and I’ll hold tight to the precious memories of the time we had together until, one day, we are reunited. I feel you watching over me: you are the warmth of the sun as I romp with your nieces on the beach, the cool breeze that caresses my cheek in the evenings, the feeling of peace that now resides in the place of turmoil. And despite my desperate wish to have you back, I must believe that you, too, are finally at peace, forever free from the disease that bound you.
Remember when we saw our first Shakespeare play? You were just fourteen and I was sixteen, and we both thought Helena was a fool for wanting a man who didn’t want her. It occurs to me that I’ve become Helena in reverse.
And so, my dear Julie, a chapter has closed and a new one begun.
I love you
Daphne put the notebook in her purse and leaned back. Smiling and looking up, she whispered the Bard’s famous words from that play she and Julie had seen so long ago:
“The king’s a beggar, now the play is done:
All is well ended...”