Chapter 15

Today’s conversation called for grilled cheese and tomato soup. Pure comfort food.

Isabella set all the ingredients out on the counter and pulled out the pots and pans she would need while she waited for her sister to arrive. Last night with Jack had been wonderful. He had stayed, not just physically but mentally and emotionally, too.               “Hey, sis!” Lucy said as she walked in the front door.

“In the kitchen!” Isabella shouted back.

“Sorry I didn't make it for lunch yesterday. We had an emergency teacher meeting at the school,” Lucy said as she walked into the kitchen. “Are you okay, Izzy?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Isabella said. “Well, not fine, but I’m okay.”

“Someone has a story to tell,” Lucy said as she put the apron on and got to work on making the tomato soup with Isabella. “So, spill.”

Isabella took a deep breath before she said in a rush, “David showed up at The Bean again. An FBI agent also showed up. I got another note. I found the gifts David gave me when we were dating. And Jack spent the night again.”

“I’m sorry. What?” Lucy asked in shock as she stopped cutting the tomatoes and turned to stare at her sister. “I’m not sure what to ask first.”

Isabella smiled at her sister. “David showed up and threatened me again, but he was only there for a few minutes. And then the FBI agent ordered coffee and asked to speak with me.

“About what?” Lucy asked.

“Apparently, he’s investigating David and now he thinks he needs to add gang or hit men ties and assault,” Isabella added.

“You told him about Jasper?”

“He already knew, but I told him my version of the story,” Isabella said.

“Did he believe you?” Lucy asked.

Isabella nodded. “I think so. He really wants to stop David. But he needs the gifts David gave me to see if they match up to items that were reported as stolen.”

“What did the note say?”

“It reminded me about Jasper and said I belong to him,” Isabella said.

“Same line as the others. Do you still have it?”

“No. Agent Lahey was there so I gave it to him. He said he would check it for fingerprints.”

“He won’t find any,” Lucy grumbled. “We should know.”

“I told him that, but it’s his job,” said Isabella as she remembered the research they had done about a homemade fingerprinting kit to use on the letters to see if they could find anything before they turned them over to Sheriff Hardy.

“Fine. I can accept that, I suppose,” Lucy said with a smile towards her little sister.

Isabella bumped her hip against her sister’s in response and said, “Jack helped me find the gifts from David that I kept. And now I’m glad I did, since they might help to convict him.”

“I know I should be happy about that, but how long would he get for that? A few years at most? And then what? He’ll just come after you again,” Lucy said, worry in her voice.

“But if Agent Lahey can convict him of murdering Jasper, then he would never be released,” said Isabella, the hope clear in her voice, something that Lucy did not miss.

“Sis, I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer, but what’s the chance that Agent Lahey can actually convict him of that? There was no evidence of much of anything at that crime scene. Sheriff Hardy went over it with a fine-tooth comb, especially because it was you,” Lucy said as she remembered the night Sheriff Hardy had called her and told her Isabella had been attacked and was at the hospital. It had been one of the worst nights of her life seeing her sister covered in blood and so broken emotionally and mentally.

“I don’t know, Lucy. But I have to have hope, you know? Mom taught us that,” Isabella whispered.

“I know, Izzy. I just don’t want you to get hurt again,” Lucy whispered.

Isabella nodded and smiled, letting her sister know it was okay. “I have something to show you after dinner. It’s a good thing, so don’t worry.”

They were quiet for a few moments while they watched the soup simmer and left each other alone to their thoughts.

“So, is Jack a permanent fixture in your life now?” Lucy asked slyly.

“He is,” said Isabella with a soft smile.

“He makes you happy, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah. Happier than ever before,” Isabella said as she looked at her sister. “Do you approve of him?”

“Wholeheartedly,” whispered Lucy as tears formed in her eyes and she hugged her little sister.

“Thank you,” Isabella whispered back, her own eyes full of tears at the love and support of her sister.

“Look at us, blubbering over tomato soup,” said Lucy as she pulled back and wiped her eyes.

“Mom would be proud,” joked Isabella as she did the same.

“So she would,” said Lucy as she looked at her sister. “Come on. Let’s eat and then you can show me that surprise.”

They sat down and ate at the kitchen table, trading stories about work and the men in their life. Isabella missed having her sister live with her, but she was so happy for the life Lucy finally had with the man of her dreams.

They cleaned up the kitchen after they ate and then Isabella led the way to the office where the gifts were still spread out on the small coffee table nestled between two cozy chairs.

“I had forgotten all about these,” Lucy said as she looked at the extravagant gifts that did not suit Isabella at all.

“I did, too,” Isabella said as she looked down at the mementos David had given her.

“When will you give them to the FBI?”

“Jack’s going to set up a meeting for Agent Lahey to come and get them. It’ll probably be this week. Agent Lahey seems keen to get the ball rolling on this,” said Isabella.

“That’s probably best,” said Lucy as she looked at her sister. “This wasn’t the surprise, was it?”

Isabella shook her head and smiled before she moved to the desk and picked up a box of tissues. “We’ll be needing these.”

Lucy raised her eyebrows but sat down in one of the chairs when Isabella gestured her to. “I’m intrigued now.”

Isabella smiled again and opened the small box. She pulled out the shawl first and handed it to Lucy, who gasped in shock. “This was Mom’s.”

“There’s more,” said Isabella as she pulled out a stack of about a dozen letters and handed them to Lucy.

“Mom’s handwriting,” Lucy murmured. “I’ve never seen these before.”

“Neither have I,” Isabella said as she took her own stack and sat in the other chair.

“When did she write these?” Lucy wondered out loud.

“No idea,” Isabella replied.

Both girls studied the letters for a moment longer. The scrolling cursive of their mother was elegant and beautiful. Just like she had been before the abuse and cancer took their toll on her.

“Ready?” Isabella asked as she picked up the first of her letters.

Lucy took a deep breath and said, “Ready.”

They both opened a letter at the same time and sat there reading them. Lucy was the first to reach for a tissue, but after that it was like the tears wouldn’t stop. Their mother had loved them and tried to protect them from their father. Her love had overwhelmed the abuse and comforted them through it all. And they understood why she hadn’t left, they really did. Their mother had no family and couldn’t have afforded to take care of two young children on her own, and their father would have made it impossible for them to leave, hunting them down and having their mother admitted to a psych ward for child endangerment induced by a mental disorder that she didn’t actually have. Back then, before mental health became a huge topic that people understood and accepted, the doctors would have agreed with a fine, upstanding preacher rather than a woman clearly distraught. They would have labeled it female hysteria. So she had stayed and protected her girls as much as she could. These letters were her final words of wisdom and love to her daughters, and they drank up every word she had written for them.

“Thanks for finding these, Izzy,” said Lucy as she reached her hand out for her sister’s.

Isabella clasped Lucy’s hand in her own. “It’s a good surprise, then?”

“The best.”

They read the letters together, occasionally reading parts to each other. Together, the sisters sat there reading those letters late into the night. A sudden clatter outside brought them out of their reading and they sat up straight, the letters forgotten.

“What was that?” Lucy whispered.

“I don’t know,” Isabella said as she stood up.

“What? No, Izzy, you can’t go outside,” Lucy hissed as she followed Isabella out of the office.

Isabella ignored her sister and picked up the baseball bat she had left in the kitchen the other day. Whatever was out there, she wanted to be prepared, and that’s exactly why she had gotten the baseball bat She hated guns, but having a baseball bat nearby gave her a sense of security while she lived by herself. She shook her head as Lucy grabbed a knife from the drawer.

They crept to the back door, their makeshift weapons held up in front of them as they rounded the corner to where the window to the office was to look for whatever made that clatter. Isabella’s heart pounded in her chest with every step and she jumped in fright when a dark figure sprang out of the bushes to race down the street.

Neither Isabella nor Lucy chased after the person. They just stood there and watched him run off.

“Was that David?” Lucy asked.

Isabella swallowed hard before she said, “I don’t know.”

Some part of her mind knew it had been David, because who else was going to creep around in the bushes at night? Which meant that he knew she still had those gifts. And if he thought, in his twisted, possessive mind, that meant she held a torch for him despite her saying everything to the contrary, she was in big trouble.