I handed the letter to Caroline. When she’d finished reading, she raised a brow at me. “The man is still carrying a torch. What a waste.” She sighed, then fingered her pendant again. “He heard about Craig, right? That they got him?”
“Yes, Josh called me as soon as he found out. Amazing how quickly news spreads around here.”
“Sure is.”
Annabelle was back, having abandoned the cat toy, begging Caroline to pick her up. Care stooped, reaching down for her. “You just can’t get enough of your Aunt Caroline, now can you? So …? Gwyn?”
“What?” I asked, realizing Care was talking to me now.
“Are you going to open that package or am I going to just stand here and die of curiosity?”
“It’s addressed to Trevor too. Maybe I should wait until he gets home.”
“Oh, come on, Gwyn. Do you really think for a minute Josh bought whatever that is for Trevor? Open it. I can’t stand the suspense. And I have to leave soon to meet Nate before he starts his shift.”
“But maybe I should wait.”
“Look, whatever it is, you’re going to need time to come up with a decent story so Trevor won’t sulk when he sees it. He’s not going to be too thrilled that Josh is still sending you presents.”
“No, he’s okay about Josh now.”
“Right. Gwyn, open it.”
I wedged my fingers into the folds of cardboard, then Caroline joined in to help. The staples popped free. We laid the box on its side and I pulled out some of the packing foam. I could see that the object inside was a framed painting. Carefully, I eased it out. “Oh my God. It’s the LaRoche. He sent me his LaRoche.”
“Is it expensive?”
“Well, yes, but that’s not the point. He loved this. I can’t believe he sent it to me.”
“To you and Trevor.”
I eyed the painting of the small boy and the feisty weed he sought to pull. “You know-I think this is Josh’s way of saying goodbye-to us, to what we had.”
“Yeah, I’d say so.”
“Here, help me, Care.” We lifted the painting and walked with it to my studio. “I think I’ll leave it right here for now,” I said as we placed the painting onto an empty easel next to the now completed portrait of my sister. And silently I added, So I can remember two of the people I loved most, whom I will miss very much.
Table of Contents
Her Last Letter
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28