by Dara Girard
Her funeral would be exquisite. She’d already made arrangements. Her sister Robin had broken down in tears when Maureen had asked her to organize it. Her sister had held her hand mumbling nonsense about needing forgiveness for what she’d done. Maureen didn’t know what she was talking about and didn’t much care. She just hoped Robin did he job well with the funeral. Maureen knew exactly how she wanted everything to be—from the casket to bouquets. She could imagine her son and daughters sitting in the front row dabbing away tears. They’d all be together, except for one.
“Mummy?”
She hadn’t been called that in so long.
“Mummy?”
And the voice…there was something familiar about it. But it was that of a woman, not a child.
“You’re the most beautiful woman I know.”
Her weak heart began to race. Yes, she’d told her that. Her dear little Catherine. Could it be? Maureen let her eyes flutter open and looked up at the woman bent over her. She saw Emery’s eyes and Catherine’s mouth. But was it just a dream? She reached her hand out to her. “Yes, I’m here,” Catherine said, taking her stepmother’s hand.
Maureen marveled at how real and solid the woman felt. And she smelled the faint scent of lilacs. It wasn’t a dream! Tears of joy and sorrow gathered in her eyes. “I knew you’d come back to me. I knew you were alive.”
“Yes, Mummy. I’m home and I’ll take care of Aaron. I’ll make sure he has a good life. I always wanted to be a big sister.”
She had so many things to ask her, so many questions, but she didn’t have the strength or the time.
“How did you—?”
Catherine adjusted the bed sheets. She wouldn’t tell her stepmother the truth—where she’d been, how she’d escaped or what she’d done to her sisters. She wouldn’t tell her that Lorna had died, that Joscelyn would be charged for her murder and that Marie had suffered a nervous breakdown. She didn’t have the words to tell her mother about another dream she’d had. A dream where Aaron had become a popular, award-winning music teacher and lived his life with joy. A dream where she reconnected with Marie and healed their relationship. A dream where her friend Helen helped Marie expand her non-profit so that it provided services for people freed from all types of modern-day slavery—from the sex trade to domestic servitude. She didn’t have the words to tell her that she saw them all with long full lives.
So she said, “Don’t worry about anything, Mummy. You can rest now.”
Rest. Maureen clung to the word. She didn’t have to fight anymore. Her daughter was finally home. Maureen closed her eyes and a soft smile spread on her lips as her final breath left her body.
62
The dark figure rose to his feet as Catherine drove her car up the drive, the black sky scattered with stars, hung low overhead. She briefly caught the figure in her headlights before she turned and parked. She took a few deep breaths before she got out of the car and approached him.
“Your father told me you went to the hospital,” Tytus said.
“How long have you been waiting?”
He shrugged. “How is she?”
Catherine stared at him for a moment, wanting to tell him that he shouldn’t have waited for her, that he shouldn’t care so much. She’d done what she had to and didn’t need him. She’d made Joscelyn tremble with rage, Lorna weep with sorrow and Marie beg for mercy. But an acute sense of loss made words impossible and she burst into tears. She didn’t pull away when she felt his arms around her. She knew he was strong enough to carry the weight of her sorrow and the pain that tore her heart.
“I’m sorry,” he said, holding her tight, but it didn’t feel tight enough. She wanted to melt away, she wanted to stop breathing so that the pain would stop too.
“You made her final moments happy,” he said.
Yes, she had done that. And he held her as she wept for her mother, the ten year old who’d been betrayed, the sister who wouldn’t see her children grow, the father who’d never seen his daughter return, and the pain of nearly twenty years threatened to drown her in a sea of despair, but somehow in his embrace she wasn’t submerged by the waves. And slowly his quiet power helped her to remember all those who’d been kind to her like Orla and Grace, Evelyn, Noah, Vera, Helen, and Jason.
Those memories of compassion, caring and love slowly calmed the waves.
“What are you going to do now?”
It seemed like a simple question, but she hadn’t thought that far. Her life had been consumed with facing her sisters again and making them pay for the pain they’d put her through. “What is a ghost to do but fade away?”
He brushed his lips against her forehead. “You don’t feel like a ghost.”
She didn’t feel like one either, her skin tingling where his lips had touched her skin. He made her feel human. He always had, his touch always making her feel alive, a sensation she wouldn’t fight anymore. “Thank you for everything,” she said, drawing away to look up at him.
“You know I don’t want your thanks.”
“Tytus—”
“I’m not my brother,” he said with feeling, his gaze filled with regret and yearning. “I may not be able to make you laugh and smile as he did, but I love you. I have since the first moment. Please give me the chance to make you happy.”
Catherine glanced away and in the distance saw a slice of yellow in the horizon as the sun rose, pushing away the night to make room for morning. She lowered her gaze and sighed. “Give me your hand.”
He hesitated, then did.
She kissed her two fingers then pressed them in his palm. “I don’t need you to make me happy.” She looked up at him, her gaze shining with love. “Because now I’m free and that’s all the happiness I need.”
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The End
Also Available
If you enjoyed Remember My Name don't miss Dara's other works...
Romantic Suspense
Dangerous Curves (Book 4 in the Henson Series)
Illusive Flame
Honest Betrayal
Mainstream Romance
The Sapphire Pendant (Book 1 in the Clifton Sisters Series)
The Amber Stone (Book 2 in the Clifton Sisters Series)
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Discover these books and more at www.iloripressbooks.com
About the Author
Dara Girard is an award-winning, national bestselling author of more than thirty books including The Amber Stone, Dangerous Curves and Honest Betrayal. Dara loves to travel and hear from readers.
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Visit daragirard.com to sign up for her newsletter and be the first to find out about current and upcoming releases.
DaraGirard
www.daragirard.com
Copyright Information
Remember My Name
Copyright 2016 Sade Odubiyi
Published by ILORI PRESS BOOKS LLC
Cover and Layout Copyright ILORI PRESS BOOKS LLC
Cover Photos woman© Luminaimages/shutterstock; lake scene © Kattalina/ Dreamstime
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, business establishments, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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The scanning, uploading, and distributing of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the copyright owner is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
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