We cuddled in front of the fire, trying to comfort each other.

"The next day, people started realizing Savannah was missing. I helped search for her, Darby. Maxwell – sometimes I wonder what Maxwell suspects – Maxwell went to the boathouse, and reported that the sailboat was missing. He told the police I was with him the whole night, and that Savannah had been drinking heavily."

Good old Maxwell. I always felt like he hated Savannah, and I was willing to bet he had pieced the story together and knew enough to realize Nathan could be in trouble if there was an in-depth investigation, so he stepped up to protect his friend.

"I thought they would find Savannah, even with the flooding, but the area where I took her boat wasn't her usual sailing spot. It is a big lake, some tornados had done damage to the town during the storm, and the flooding had done even more damage. The community was busy trying to recover from more than one difficult situation. It was easy for the sheriff to write it all off as a tragic accident, and we had a funeral once the search was called off."

He pulled me into his lap, and I wrapped my legs around his waist as best I could in the uncomfortable chair as he talked.

I thought of her empty grave on the grounds of the estate. I imagined a large group gathered around that meaningless grave, with Nathan pretending to grieve Savannah's loss.

"I selected the epitaph on her headstone, ‘What We Keep in Memory We Keep Forever.' I struggled with what to put on the marker. I hated her, and I certainly wasn't going to call her my beloved wife, or anything traditional like that. To me, the epitaph I chose was my way of saying I was going to try to forget her, and all the poison she brought into my life." He shifted. “And I had to live with what I had done. Forever.”

“So the epitaph, is what? A way of saying you can’t forget the horrors of that night?”

He looked away. “That’s it exactly. I know I didn’t kill her, and didn’t have the time to save her. But I carry the guilt anyway.”

I kept quiet, considering. I had a lot to think about, but I couldn’t do it now.

“The funeral services were awful, of course.” He had that faraway look in his eyes again as he shared another memory with me.

The funeral was large, overflowing with hundreds of people coming to pay their respects. We held the funeral at a church in town. There were too many people for the tiny chapel at Peacock Alley. Savannah would have loved the attention. I stood by a picture of her on our wedding day and spoke to the mourners one by one.

"So sorry for your loss, Mr. Randolph. Savannah was such a sweet lady."

"I'm so terribly upset, Nathan, but I realize Savannah is an angel in heaven now."

"My heart is breaking for you, Nathan. Savannah was just too good for this earth."

"I don't know how you are holding up. I know how much you loved Savannah."

He blinked away the memory, and looked down at me. “I stood by her empty casket, and the mourners just kept coming. Everybody wanted to share their grief with me, and I just wanted to scream out the truth about Savannah. How could they not see the truth about her?”

I rubbed his back, trying to get him to relax a little.

"And you've never told anyone about what happened? Not even Maxwell?" My voice was faint. It was hard to believe he had kept this bottled up inside for a whole year.

"No, I've never told a single soul.”

I ached for him. I had thought he seemed lonely when I first met him, but that was an understatement.

“So you see, you have power over me. You have had power over me from the beginning because I love you so much. Savannah took her power like a thief. I willing gave you mine. You have the power to hurt me by leaving me. Now you also have the power to go to the sheriff and reopen the investigation into her death.”

“I would never go to the police! Don’t even suggest that!” I wanted him to know he had my loyalty always.

“Although I guess to some extent, that will happen anyway. Once the autopsy is completed, and they realize she was shot, it will no longer be an accident. It will be a homicide, and I will be the prime suspect." He looked grim.

“Don’t say that! It can’t happen. It just can’t.” Now I was the one getting agitated, raising my voice. It seemed we had left one nightmare behind just to enter another.

He pulled at his hair in his frustration.

"The irony is that Savannah still has power over me. She is still controlling me from beyond the damn grave. It doesn't matter that she has been dead for more than a year. She still has that same fucking power."

“We won’t let her have that power. Somehow, we will find a way.” I was desperate for an answer, but I didn’t see a way out yet.

I was terrified for Nathan. I was scared for our future together. What was going to happen now?

"I'm sorry for what you have been through, Darby. I have been distant, I know. I want to be clear now. I never wanted you to be like Savannah. That is a horrifying thought to me. And I said before that I rushed you into marriage. I knew Savannah for years, and she was a terrible choice for my wife. I knew you for about two days, and you were the perfect choice. I just knew." His voice was tender as he spoke to me.

He looked right into my eyes.

"I desperately need you to be yourself because you have brought light into my world at last."

He clenched his fists, his stress and frustration visible. He glanced away from me.

"And last night I was so angry. When I saw you in that flapper dress, it brought back all those bad memories. It felt like the past was coming alive right before my eyes. For a second I even thought you had guessed the truth, and you were angry with me. I thought maybe you wanted me to pay for what I had done."

"I had no idea. I had no idea at all. I would never hurt you intentionally. I love you so much." My voice softened as I thought back to the costume disaster.

He turned to me again."Let me guess. The silver flapper costume you wore was my mother's idea."

I said nothing, but my silence was all the answer he needed. Nathan pulled me to the rug in front of the fire, and we held each other for a long while, desperately needing the comfort the other had to offer.