She shook her head. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I’m crying.”
“Scarlet?”
Maggie came to stand next to her. Scarlet handed her the box. “It—it belonged to Mom.”
“Oh.” Maggie turned to Glenn with a smile. “Thanks for bringing this for us. We appreciate it very much.”
With a nod, he turned and hurried down the steps of the front porch, obviously glad to get away from the overwrought female. Maggie closed the door, then guided Scarlet to the sofa and made her sit down. She sat beside her. “Do you know what’s in the box?”
“Letters, I think.”
“From who?”
Scarlet shook her head. “I don’t know. I only know they made Mom sad.”
The door opened and Harper walked into the cottage. Her gaze met Scarlet’s and she hurried to her, dropping to her knees in front of her and seizing her hand. “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”
Maggie answered for her. “The workmen found this box under the floorboards in the lodge. Scarlet says it belonged to Mom.”
Harper examined the box. “I don’t remember ever seeing it before. What makes you think it was Mom’s?”
“The initials, of course, and the fact it was found in one of the bedrooms. She must have hidden it there, probably so Grandma couldn’t find it.” Scarlet inhaled a shaky breath. “And I saw it once before. That summer.”
Harper didn’t have to ask which summer she was talking about. She ran her hand up and down Scarlet’s arm. “Why is it making you so sad, honey?”
Her lower lip trembled. “The letters inside made Mom cry. I’d never seen her cry before, not like that, like her heart was crumbling.”
Maggie put her arm around her shoulders. “Maybe we should put it away and forget about it. It’s not worth making you cry.”
“No!” Scarlet tightened her grip on the box. “We have so little left of our parents. I want to know – I need to know – why the letters in this box upset Mom so badly.”
Maggie turned to Harper. “You’ve got the deciding vote. What do you think? What should we do with this box?”
For several silent moments, Harper caressed the carved initials with her finger. Finally, she looked up at Scarlet, sadness making her normally vibrant blue eyes appear dull and flat. “We’ve had too many secrets kept from us, too many things we don’t understand. I’m tired of not knowing. I say we open the box and if there are letters inside, we read them. We’ve earned that right.”
Maggie gave a brief nod. “Okay. Scarlet, are you ready?”
I’ll never be ready for this. “Yes.”
“You do the honors, Scarlet,” Harper said. “Open the box.”
Her hands shook as she fumbled with the latch and lifted the lid. As she suspected, the box was filled with yellowing letters. Scarlet lifted the top envelope and read the address. “It’s addressed to Abby. Why would Mom have Abby’s letters, and why would they make her cry?”
“I don’t know.” Maggie peered at the postal stamp. “The ink is smeared and I can’t make out where it was sent from. All I can make out is the M, so it was likely mailed in Minnesota.”
“Or Michigan, Massachusetts or Maryland.”
“Who would Mom have known in Maryland?”
“Wherever it came from, we know when it came.” Maggie tapped the date stamp with her fingernail. “June 5th, 1975.”
“Mom was still in high school. She would have been what? Sixteen?”
“Fifteen,” Harper said. “Who’s it from?”
Scarlet turned the envelope over but there was no return address. “I guess we’ll have to read the letter to find out.”
Holding her breath, she pulled the letter from the envelope and began to read aloud.
“My Sweet Randi, I miss you so much. I know the time isn’t right for us now, but someday we’ll be together. I promise. Nothing and no one will keep us apart. I love you, baby. I know it’s hard, but please be patient and give me some time to make things right. I’ll see you soon. R.” Scarlet’s voice shook as she finished, the love and emotion in the words tearing at her heart.
“R? R as in Robert? I didn’t realize Mom and Dad knew each other when she was in high school. I thought they met in college,” Maggie said.
“So did I, but maybe that was just one more lie we were told.” Harper removed the letter from Scarlet’s hands. “We know someone else with an R name. Reese.”
“Reese? He would have been about five years older than Mom, wouldn’t he?”
“Yes. He left Minnewasta as soon as he graduated from high school, and he didn’t come back for a lot of years.”
“Did they know each other back then?”
“Yeah. He told me he worked at the lodge one summer.” Harper shook her head. “But she was fourteen or fifteen and he was about nineteen. What would they have had in common at that age? This sounds like a pretty intense relationship. It’s unlikely he’s the letter writer.”
“Simply because of their age difference?” Maggie’s voice rose, her tone incensed. “There are age differences in many relationships. Just because he was five years older doesn’t mean they couldn’t have cared for each other.”
“She was a kid, and he was a young man,” Harper insisted. “They were at totally different stages of life.”
“Don’t discount the possibility they loved each other simply because they weren’t the same age,” Maggie said stubbornly. Scarlet looked at her, taken aback by her outburst.
Harper shook her head. “I don’t buy it. Daddy must have written that letter. They must have known each other back then. Unless…”
“What?” Scarlet asked.
“There is someone else whose name begins with R,” Harper said. “Someone the same age as our mother who lived in Minnewasta at the same time. Willy Eklund.”
“Willy? What are you talking about?”
“Willy’s real name is Richard. He always used his middle name so people wouldn’t get him mixed up with his father, who was also named Richard.” She bit her lip. “Abby told me that Willy had a huge crush on Mom back in high school. He even wrote poetry for her. But she didn’t think he ever told Mom. It’s possible Abby didn’t know the whole story, though.”
Scarlet shook her head. “Why would he sign his name with an R if he didn’t normally use that name?”
“Whoever wrote these letters was obviously trying to hide his relationship with Mom. Why else would Abby be the go-between? Maybe not signing the letters was another way of keeping this relationship secret.”
“She obviously didn’t want Grandma to know about the letters.” Maggie gripped the paper in her hands, her lower lip trembling and a tear trailing down her cheek. “She must have been afraid Grandma would disapprove. Why else would she hide them so carefully?”
Scarlet was alarmed by Maggie’s emotional reaction. “Are you ok, honey?”
She wiped her face with the back of her hand. “I’ll be fine.”
Scarlet wished Reese had burned the box. The discovery wasn’t worth upsetting Maggie like this.
“I’m sure Grandma would have disapproved of Willy,” Harper said. “His mother was an alcoholic.”
“Then why would she let Grampa hire Willy if she hated him so much?” Maggie asked.
Harper shrugged. “I don’t know. Grandma was a difficult person to understand.”
Maggie nodded, her eyes shiny with fresh tears. “She didn’t understand us anymore than we understood her.”
Scarlet squeezed her hand in silent support. As the youngest, Maggie had been most affected by their grandmother’s mercurial ways. And also by her sudden death. However difficult their relationship, Grandma Dorothy was the only mother Maggie had ever known.
“No, these letters must have been written by Daddy. Nothing else makes sense.” Harper shook the envelope. “Look at this. He loved her, even back then. He never would have hurt her. This proves he didn’t kill her, I know it.”
Scarlet’s stomach
churned, leaving her feeling queasy. “You don’t know how he really felt about her. You don’t even know for sure he wrote these letters.”
“I know it,” Harper insisted. “He loved her. All these years, people have believed he killed her out of jealousy and anger and finally, here’s the proof that he didn’t. He wouldn’t hurt her. He loved her. I know it.”
Scarlet’s hands shook. “I never once heard him call her Randi. Did you?”
“No, but maybe it was a name he used in private. Lovers sometimes have pet names for each other.”
She was going to be sick. “I don’t want to talk about them anymore!”
“Come on, Scarlet. If we can’t talk to each other about them, who can we talk to?”
“I said I don’t want to talk about them!”
The walls were closing in on her, the secret she’d guarded so closely for so many years threatening to be exposed.
Harper stared at her. “What’s wrong with you?”
Scarlet jumped to her feet, dropping the box to the floor and scattering the contents. “These pieces of paper prove nothing! You weren’t there, you don’t know!”
She rushed to the door, needing to get away, needing to breathe.
Harper grabbed her arm before she could leave. “What do you mean, I wasn’t there?”
Tears blurred her vision. She had to get away before the torrent swamped her and she broke down completely. Then her sisters would know what she knew, and she couldn’t let that happen. She pushed Harper’s hand from her arm. “I have to go.”
She bolted out the door and down the steps, running blindly into the forest. No matter what, she had to protect her sisters from the knowledge that had haunted her all her life.
Harper was wrong; it was no accident. Just as the police had said, their father killed their mother. But what they didn’t know was why. Scarlet knew.
Miranda had intended to leave Robert for another man.
Cam caught a glimpse of Scarlet running through the trees, her red hair visible through the green foliage. She stumbled and fell, then quickly picked herself up and continued to run, soon disappearing into the forest. He slipped off his tool belt and handed his hammer to Charlie. “I have to go. Can you look after things here?”
“Sure, boss. Is something wrong?”
“I hope not.”
He ran in the general direction he’d seen he go, unsure of where he was going or why. All he knew was that something had happened, and he had to make sure Scarlet was okay.
The undergrowth slapped against his face and scratched his arms as he pushed his way through. He had no idea if he was headed in the right direction, but he kept moving.
Finally, he found a path of sorts, probably made by deer making their way to the lake. Scarlet may have followed this path. She grew up here and knew every path and hiding place in the forest. But he wasn’t sure. There was no sign of her.
Then, he heard it. A keening cry so heartbreakingly sad he knew Scarlet’s heart must be shattered. He followed the sound and found her curled on her side in the fetal position, her body shaking with her cries. She ran her fingers through her ponytail, tugging on the strands as if it somehow soothed her. He knelt beside her and touched her arm, fear churning in his gut. She started at his touch and scrambled to a sitting position.
“Scarlet, sweetheart, what’s wrong? What happened, baby?”
She swiped at her tears with the back of her hand, a gesture so childlike it broke his heart. “What are you doing here?”
“I saw you running through the trees.”
She turned her face away. “You shouldn’t have followed me.”
“What happened? Why are you crying?”
Her eyes filled with tears again. “Go away, Cameron.”
“No.” He gently removed a dry leaf from her hair. “I won’t leave you like this.”
She pulled her knees to her chest and began to rock. “Please, Cameron. Go. I can’t…I can’t.”
He put his arm around her and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head. “I seem to remember telling you the same thing not that long ago. You wouldn’t leave me then, and I won’t leave you now.”
She looked at him, surprise simmering in her blue eyes. The next moment they filled with tears and spilled down her cheeks. Her body shook with her sobs. Cam gathered her into his arms and pulled her onto his lap. His heart ached to see her in such pain. He held her tightly as she clutched the material of his t-shirt and wept.
“It’s okay, baby. Everything’s going to be okay,” he murmured against her sweet-smelling hair. “Let it all go.”
She cried as if she’d been holding a torrent of pain inside for a very long time. He knew all too well how grief and anger bottled up inside like that could eat away at a person until there was nothing left but emptiness.
Finally, she cried herself out, her sobs subsiding into soft hiccups. For a long time he simply held her and silently stroked her hair, waiting for her to speak. When she finally did, her voice was quiet and a little raw from her tears.
“I’m sorry,” she said against his chest, still clutching his shirt.
“For crying?” He kissed her hair once more. “You don’t have to be sorry for that. Not with me.”
Her body stiffened. “Please don’t tell my sisters. They wouldn’t understand.”
“What wouldn’t they understand?”
“Please, Cameron. Promise me.”
“All right. I won’t tell them you were crying if you don’t want me to.” He paused, wondering how far he could push her. “Can you tell me why you were crying?”
She shook her head against his chest. “No. Please, don’t ask.”
“Scarlet, sweetheart. Look at me.”
Reluctantly, she tipped her head back and looked up at him. The bleakness on her face nearly undid him. He gently smoothed her hair from her forehead. “When you stayed with me, when you wouldn’t let me push you away…” He stopped, uncomfortable and unaccustomed to speaking about his feelings. But for Scarlet he’d do it. “When you stayed, it meant a lot to me. I didn’t realize how much I needed someone to talk to.” Someone to believe in me.
Her eyes softened. “I’m glad I could help.”
“I want to help you the way you helped me. You can tell me anything. I won’t judge, I promise.”
Her mouth trembled and she once more ducked her head, not letting go of her grip on his t-shirt. “I’ve never told anyone, not even my sisters. Especially not my sisters.”
He kissed the top of her head. “Whatever you’re holding inside, it’s killing you, baby. It’s time to let it go.”
“I can’t. If they knew…”
“What would happen if they knew?”
“They’d be so hurt, especially Harper. She’s believed for so long…” She shook her head against his chest. “I can’t take away her hope.”
“I know you don’t want to hurt anyone, but do you think your sisters would want you to suffer like this? If the tables were turned, would you want them to feel the hurt you feel right now?”
Her reply was muffled against his shirt. “No. Never.”
Cam kissed her hair once more, wondering if he had any right to say what he was going to say next. “Do you think your parents would want you to be so unhappy? This is about them, isn’t it?”
She flashed him a look of panicked surprise before turning her face away. “Yes,” she whispered.
“You found out something, didn’t you? About how they died?”
With an unsteady breath, she slid off his lap. He was relieved when she settled next to him on the forest floor. How long she’d stay was anyone’s guess. She was like a skittish rabbit, ready to bolt at the first hint of trouble.
She wrapped her arms around her knees. “You promise you won’t say anything to my sisters?”
He hesitated. He didn’t know if he could promise knowing it would prolong her pain.
She lifted her chin. “Promise me, Cameron, or I’m leav
ing right now.”
“Okay. I won’t say anything to Maggie and Harper.” He had to hope that unburdening her terrible secret to him would be enough to give her some peace.
She nodded and looked away. “It was here in the woods, not far from here. That’s where I heard my parents talking that day.”
“That day? You mean the day they died?”
She closed her eyes and nodded again. “Daddy arrived at the lodge unexpectedly. I heard him tell Mom he had some things he needed to say to her, that they needed to work some things out, so I followed them. I thought he was going to tell her he was coming home, that we were going to be a family again. I wanted to find out so I could tell Harper. She’d been so worried.”
“So your father had been the one who left the marriage?”
“Yes. He left in the spring. Then when school let out, Mom packed the three of us up and we came out to the lodge.”
She fell silent, as if remembering those confusing and unhappy times. Cam touched her hand. “So you followed them through the forest?”
Scarlet roused herself. “Yes. They didn’t know I was there. Harper and I had gotten pretty good at being quiet. We used to follow deer through the forest, and we could get quite close until they caught our scent and ran.”
“You heard their conversation?”
Scarlet hugged her knees closer and began to rock. “Daddy was so angry and so sad. Mom said she couldn’t go on the way they had anymore. She couldn’t live with the lie. She said she loved someone else, that she’d always loved him. Then, Daddy started crying and said he wanted to die, because if he couldn’t have her, he’d rather be dead.”
Dear God. No wonder this secret had been eating away at her. She’d been a child, not much older than Tessa. Cam clasped her hand.
“I’d never seen him like that before, so angry, so anguished, like his heart had been ripped in half. Mom told him how sorry she was. She’d never meant to hurt him.” She swiped at tears with the back of her hand. “They must have heard me crying. They found me in my hiding place, told me they loved me, and said I had to go back to the lodge. Mom said we’d be going to a new home soon, but not with Daddy. She said we could still talk to Daddy on the phone whenever we wanted.”
Secrets and Solace Page 17
