Page 160 of Perfume Girl

She knew it wasn’t him. And Astor had carried that burden of guilt all of his life to protect his sister. Penelope’s burden had been seeing her brother’s childhood stolen on that very day and enduring their terrible separation.

I walked Caine up the beach a little ways to put some distance between me and the noise of the crowd. I sat on the sand with him lying next to me and I tried to draw serenity from the hypnotic rhythm of the ocean. My heart bled for Astor and all he had suffered. I felt for Penelope, too. She may have saved her mother but she had killed some part of herself in the action she’d taken. Her confession felt like the final piece of the puzzle surrounding Astor and I felt an outpouring of love for him.

This was what my heart had told me all along—he was a good, strong man of principle who had sacrificed his life for those he loved.

A pelican swooped low and my gaze followed it until it disappeared from sight.

“May I join you?”

I looked over my shoulder and saw Astor standing a few feet away. A spark of hope glittered in his eyes and he gave me a kind smile. Caine rolled onto his back for him and Astor walked over and knelt down to give him a belly rub.

I patted the sand beside me. “Sit here.”

He joined me. “Penelope’s friend is taking her home.”

“How is she?”

“My sister will be okay.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry you got caught up in our dysfunction.” He reached over and began to rub my back as though I was the one who needed comforting.

I shook my head. “All these years…the things you’ve had to endure in secrecy.”

We sat side by side staring out at the ocean as the waves seemingly tried to soothe this moment and all that had gone before.

Astor broke the silence. “I remember it vividly. Still have nightmares about that house.Thatroom. If only I had gotten there before Penelope. Maybe I would have merely threatened Dad with the gun. I don’t know.”

“You made the ultimate sacrifice for your sister.”

“There was no other way. It happened so fast. There was no time to think or strategize. I woke up to the sound of my mother screaming. Then she went quiet. I went to check on her. My dad was drunk and staggering over her. He punched her face and she slid from the chair to the floor and lay still. He’d broken her jaw.”

I rested a comforting hand on his arm.

He let out a deep breath and continued. “Penelope was eleven. Her bedroom was next to theirs, which was why she got there before me. Mom had gotten the gun to protect all of us. Dad was still shouting at Mom even though she was clearly not going to fight back.” Astor sighed heavily, seemingly reliving the anguish of that night. “Penelope picked up the gun and pointed it at him.”

In my head, I heard the gun go off, the bullet finding its mark and changing their lives irrevocably. One cruel consequence leading to another until the entire family had been decimated.

From a little way down the beach, music carried from the party—Kate Bush singing “This Woman’s Work” as a devastating backdrop.

“The final straw was my dad kicking my mom in the abdomen. It forced Penelope’s hand. She feels guilt over it every day and I carry guilt for not knowing whether I would have had the strength to do it. It was the reason I took the blame.”

I imagined the chaos, the horror of that night, and my heart softened for Penelope. She had to cope every day with what she had done and live with the knowledge that her brother had paid the price.

Astor turned to look at me. “It’s a day of revelations, it seems.”

“It is.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“How did you know your perfume had ended up at The House of Beauregard?”

“A customer came into my shop and told me she saw you with the bottle. They are unique. I bought two of them in Paris. Her saying she recognized the scent and the bottle was too much of a coincidence to ignore.”

“Who?”