This Much Is True

by Anna Albo

  Genie grabbed her phone and tapped away. A minute later a wide smile spread across her face. “Okay, at least he’s not ugly.”

  “I figured a google search would convince you.”

  “This sounds fun and gross all at the same time. Why are you worried about this guy?”

  “It’s my intuition. I know he’s trouble.”

  Genie leaned in closer and dropped her voice. “What do you expect me to do?”

  “I don’t know. Just check him out.”

  “So you’re basically pimping out your sister?”

  “No. Think of yourself as a spy.”

  “I’ll do this for you, but I still don’t get why. You need to give me more info.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed. “I’ve got to talk quick before they get back. Emma mentioned this Morrow guy to me, and she was talking about him more than she normally talks about anyone. So I went by her tennis club and this piece of shit was there. Real smug, too. He likes her, Genie, I can feel it. And I don’t want him interfering with our lives.”

  Genie nodded. “Okay, I’ll make it look casual. I’m not sure how, but I’m pretty creative.”

  “See what you can find out.”

  We heard Paul coming down the stairs and changed the subject to the weather. I appreciated what Genie was doing because if anyone could get info from a guy like Ben Morrow, it was my sister. The only drawback was that he was the type of asshole she might fall for. I’d have to stop that if I thought she was getting sucked in. We’d just gotten rid of Steve. The last thing we needed was a washed-up tennis player with an attitude in our lives.

  “FEELING BETTER?” I asked Emma as she was climbing into bed.

  “I had a long talk with Dad. I understand things better now.”

  “You’re going to think about calling her?” I asked, crawling into bed and pulling her close.

  “I don’t know. Won’t it be weird?”

  “Initially, yes. I’m not going to lie, but if you click with her, that awkwardness will go away. And it seems like she’s pretty cool with your dad. Don’t you think she’d be cool with you too?”

  “I don’t know. What do I even say to her?”

  I kissed her neck. “Whatever comes to your mind.”

  “I emailed her. I think that’s a good first step.”

  I smiled. “It’s a great first step.”

  “There are very few people in the world that I’ve met and it’s not been awkward. I think you were the first stranger it felt natural talking to.” She fell silent for a long moment. “You know, after we met, I started to find it easier to talk to people. Maybe that has to do with you. When I think about it, there was Helen, Genie, Wendy, even stupid Ben.”

  I held back a reaction even though my body tensed. Man, I hoped she didn’t notice. Just the mention of his name set me off.

  “See. It gets easier.”

  “I think you’re right,” she said, and kissed my lips. “Okay, I’ll seriously think about this. I would like to meet her . . . I think. It’s a big deal, you know.”

  “I know.”

  “How did I get so lucky to have a guy like you love little old me?”

  “I think it’s the other way around.”

  She snuggled in close and easily drifted to sleep. I lay awake feeling guilty. Not hours ago I was questioning her association with Ben Morrow, even though I had no proof I had anything to worry about. Emma was my girl and Morrow was an irritant. And even though I knew all that, I wasn’t calling off the plan with Genie.

  Not a fucking chance.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Emma

  I had a lot of questions for Dad. Late into the night, with Zach at my side, I’d been reading Meredith’s correspondence. Eventually I fell asleep, but not for long. I scooted out of bed and switched on the smallest lamp in the room and kept reading until nearly three o’clock in the morning. Zach didn’t stir once, not even when I got back into bed.

  I awoke early, unable to sleep and started a pot of coffee. Since no one else was awake, I started on the pie crust, peeled the apples, gutted and stewed the pumpkin and had both pies ready for the oven when Zach got up.

  “Good morning,” he said, kissing my cheek. He rummaged through cupboards looking for a mug. I pointed to the right one and started on pancake batter while Zach poured his coffee. Next, I moved onto the bacon. I laid slices out on an aluminum-foil-covered baking sheet and popped it in the oven. I mixed up an egg and cheese bake that was also going into the oven along with the bacon. If my timing was right, we’d eat in less than half an hour.

  “That’s a shitload of food.”

  “Well, eat up! We’re not having lunch, but I figure we’d have an early dinner.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  We wouldn’t have Wendy or Grandpa over for breakfast. They were driving to Minneapolis to pick up Peter, Wendy’s son, and were expected back in the early afternoon. I had a feeling something was going on, but that would have to wait until later. Why would her son come all this way when he’d never come before?

  “Should I wake up my sister and your dad?” Zach asked.

  “Let’s give them ten more minutes. It’s so unlike Dad to sleep in so he must have been exhausted.”

  A few minutes later Dad wandered into the kitchen, yawning and stretching. His eyes opened wide when he saw all I’d accomplished in a few hours.

  “I thought I was on peeling duty,” he said.

  “There are still potatoes and yams to peel.”

  “I’ll get on those after breakfast.”

  Zach went to wake up Genie and she arrived just in time for breakfast, looking flawless as always. Did she wake up that way?

  “Good morning, everyone. It smells wonderful in here.”

  She took a seat next to Dad. Genie would stop at nothing to get his attention. It was kind of cute but mostly weird. We wolfed down breakfast and Zach insisted that he and Genie do dishes, which gave me a chance to grill Dad. I didn’t care that Genie and Zach were in earshot; nothing was really private.

  “I was going through Meredith’s letters and emails to you. I got to the part where she met Cam. Sometimes it’s hard piecing things together when I don’t have what you wrote to her. There were email threads with your replies, but not always.”

  “Kiddo, you can ask anything. Nothing is a secret.”

  I poured us both another cup of coffee and tried to ignore the way Genie and Zach were washing dishes. I’d never seen two people so inept at household chores. The sink was about to overflow with sudsy water and the way they’d haphazardly stacked the dishes to dry defied all logic. Rich kids.

  “I suppose I want to know in your words what happened. Why you think she never came back.”

  “Did you read everything?”

  “I got to the point where she met her husband.”

  “You got pretty far.” Dad sipped his coffee. “It’s just speculation, but I think her parents must have known what Meredith had planned all along. That’s why her dad got the transfer to Texas a few months after Meredith had you. It’s like they tried to get as far away as possible. It’s not like she had a choice; she was fifteen and she had to go with them.”

  “When she was eighteen, why didn’t she come back?”

  “To what? She had no money. Her parents wouldn’t let her get a job. She wanted to come back and live with her grandparents, your great-grandparents, but her parents wouldn’t let her and I don’t think her grandparents wanted to get involved. Meredith wanted to skip out of going to college and come back here, and maybe things would have been different if I hadn’t talked her out of it, but I knew how important a college education was and I told her to stay there. Let her parents pay for it and she did. Reluctantly. She came back one summer, you were probably five or six. We met up and I introduced you to her. Of course, you had no idea who she was so you played strange with her. I guess Meredith didn’t expect that, but you eventually warmed up to her. We spent a few
days together, talking about the future but by then we’d drifted apart. She hadn’t yet finished college and she was living her life, just like you are now. I didn’t want her to leave and come to some unknown. I encouraged her to finish school and come back when she was ready, when it would be easy for her to get a job, get on her own feet. Again, that was my mistake. I wonder how your life would be now if she’d stayed. And then too much time passed. Sometimes I blame myself for all this.”

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “It’s not hers either.”

  I thought hard about what Dad had just told me. “How come I don’t remember this meeting we had with her?”

  “You were young. If it helps, we went to a fair and you had cotton candy, the first time you’d ever eaten that. Does that ring any bells?”

  I tried really hard to remember, but I was getting a whole lot of nothing. “Nope, nothing at all.”

  “I have some pictures somewhere. I’ll get those for you.”

  He was gone less than a minute and out of breath when he came back. He had a small plastic photo album in his hand and passed it to me. I opened it to the first page and saw my five-year-old self stuffing her face with pink and blue cotton candy. I was sitting on a bench with Meredith, her profile to the camera and she was watching me with a huge smile on her face.

  The next picture was of me sitting close to her, still with my cotton candy in hand, but we were both looking at the camera this time, smiling like the perfect mother and daughter. I closed the album, afraid I’d burst into tears if I kept looking at the pictures. All I’d ever wanted were pictures like those, and I didn’t remember a second of this outing with her.

  “How did she meet Cam? It’s not clear in her emails,” I said, a perfect diversion from the photo album.

  “Meredith and I were talking on the phone a lot, that’s why there are all the gaps. She met Cam by chance. Her grandfather had passed away and her grandmother was suffering from dementia. Meredith volunteered to come back here to take care of her grandmother’s affairs. By then Meredith was twenty-five. She came back with her younger sister, your aunt Lily, and they packed up your great-grandparents’ house. That’s how she met Cam. He’d been overseeing your great-grandparents’ financial affairs. I suppose they hit it off and a few years later they got married.”

  “Why didn’t Meredith try to meet up with me then? She was back in Minnesota.”

  “At that point you pretty much hated her. I tried hard to sway you away from those thoughts, but you felt abandoned and I couldn’t do anything about that. I felt guilty for contributing to it.”

  I knew Genie and Zach were trying not to listen, but how could they not? It was an interesting story. “Do you ever wish you’d gotten back together with her?”

  “Sure, all the time. She was my first love.”

  “Just so you know, none of this means I want a relationship with her now.”

  “I know. There’s no pressure.”

  “I sent her an email last night to wish her a happy Thanksgiving.”

  Dad couldn’t help but beam. “I’m glad you did that. I’m sure you made her day.”

  “And I might have more questions for you later.”

  “You know where to find me.”

  I finished my coffee. “Okay, enough talk about this. We have a Thanksgiving dinner to prepare.”

  EVERY SPARE INCH OF the dinner table was covered with food. I put on a spread because I had a sneaking suspicion that Grandpa and Wendy had an announcement to make. They couldn’t stop giggling. Wendy couldn’t wipe the smile off her lips when she introduced us all to Peter. Peter shook everyone’s hands and when he saw the dinner table, his grey eyes grew wide.

  “I’m so glad I decided to come here!”

  Through dinner we learned he was married with two children, both under the age of two. They would have all come, but his wife only recently had their second child and didn’t feel ready to travel yet. Talk turned to football, then hockey and when I pulled out the pies, Grandpa cleared his throat loudly and politely asked us to shut up.

  He stood up and so did Wendy. Their silly grins said it all.

  “Wendy and I have something to tell you all.” He turned to Wendy and smiled warmly. “Everyone, I’ve asked this wonderful woman to marry me and she actually said yes!”

  I’d considered this prospect for a long time and wondered if Grandma would approve. I was pretty sure she would. Sure, Wendy was nothing like Grandma except where it counted most: Wendy’s huge heart. I leapt out of my seat and gave them both a big hug.

  “Congratulations! I’m so happy for you.”

  “Sweetie, thank you!” Wendy said.

  “When is the big day?”

  “We’re thinking the first week in June.”

  “I have another announcement,” Grandpa said. “I’ve decided to move in with Wendy. I hope no one judges us,” he said, and laughed.

  “Wait, so Dad’s officially alone?” I asked.

  Grandpa grunted. “Your dad will be fine.”

  Dad all alone? I wasn’t sure that sat well with me. First I left, and now Grandpa. I had to step up my efforts to find him a woman.

  Grandpa poured some champagne he’d brought along while I served up dessert. The apple pie was still warm. We toasted to the happy couple and I couldn’t help but think how lucky I was to be surrounded by so many wonderful people.

  But I should have known better. Good times never last long.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Emma

  Back to reality. A few more weeks of classes, then exams followed by the Christmas break. I couldn’t wait. It would be my first Christmas with Zach.

  On my way out of history class I ran into Julia. I hadn’t seen her since Brett’s cabin and she jogged over to me. She had a huge bag slung over her shoulders and set it down when she reached me.

  “I really have to stop carrying so much crap around,” she said. “How are you? I haven’t seen you in a while.”

  “I’m good. And you?”

  “Studying hard. I plan on graduating this spring. Got to keep those grades up.”

  I nodded. This was weird. We weren’t friends, I mean, she was nice enough, but we weren’t besties. “Right, of course.”

  Did I awkwardly set off and tell her I had to go even though I was finished classes for the day?

  She caught her breath and gave me a sheepish smile. “I haven’t seen you since the cabin and I wanted to apologize for coming off so strong about the whole Bianca thing. I know it was ugly and I didn’t want to sound like I was taking sides. Bianca is my friend, but I also know how she can be. And I know I shit on Zach and that wasn’t cool.”

  “It’s okay. No big deal.”

  “Bianca is having a bit of a rough year and I figured I was helping, but I should have kept my mouth shut.”

  I blinked a few times. What was all this? A million thoughts circulated through my head. Her speech sounded rehearsed. “Julia, did Zach say something to you?”

  A blank look crossed her face. “Uh, no. Why would he?”

  “No reason,” I said, pushing my paranoid doubts to the side.

  “I realized later that I may have inflamed a situation that was finally over, and the last thing I wanted to do was stir up trouble.”

  “Nothing came of it.” But why, after three months, was she bringing this up? “Did something happen recently?”

  Julia grimaced and I knew I’d hit a nerve. “I know you hate her, but I’m probably one of her last friends and I hate to see what she’s going through. I’d hate that for anyone. I know everyone thinks she’s the devil, but she’s not. She’s just . . . complicated. And when you think about it, she lost the first guy she ever truly loved, her so-called friends disappeared and now she risks flunking out of school. And don’t get me wrong, I don’t want you to feel sorry for her, but I wish everyone would leave her alone.”

  “So something has happened?” My heart picked up a few beats. She was supposed
to be left alone. That was the deal.

  “Nothing specific. At least nothing she’s said to me. The thing is . . .” She paused. “After I talked to you, it seems some crap started. Now I’m not saying you’re responsible or anything, but if you mentioned it to Zach, he might have . . . well, you know.”

  Sent out his goons? My head began to fog. What was going on? My mouth started moving, but I stopped it before I said anything I would regret.

  “I think Brett’s the main problem. First he’s being a jerk about Bianca, then he’s trying to clean it up. I don’t know if Zach’s been telling him to start crap, I’d like to think he isn’t, but Brett knows a lot of people. So does Zach.”

  Right, Zach’s biggest goon. “He’ll leave her alone, I promise,” was all I could get out.

  “Okay, good. Well, I’ve got to get to class. It was nice seeing you.”

  She set off and I watched her go. I’d decided to forget about Bianca, but she kept coming back into the picture like that nasty smell in our fridge I couldn’t find. I was certain something had died in there.

  But more importantly, why was I feeling sorry for Bianca? She put me in the hospital! She deserved everything that was coming to her. That’s the thing about karma. It’s a total bitch. But, she didn’t deserve this. It was supposed to be over, we were all going on our merry little way, but Zach kept throwing a wrench in our peaceful co-existence and somehow Brett was involved too. He was supposed to leave her alone! Now I was angry.

  With a few hours to spare, I went to the tennis club and met with Ben. He wanted to finalize our class schedule. I was up to two group lessons and four single lessons. The extra money was going to come in very handy for New York.

  Ben wasn’t in the office so I decided to check my email. Meredith had emailed me a few times, the first time almost immediately after my happy Thanksgiving email. Our conversations were short, a few questions here and there. The thing was that even though we were connected by blood, we were total strangers.

  I read through the messages from her. The last one caught my attention.