A Peach of a Pair (18 page)

Still coughing, I shook my head. “No, ma’am,” I croaked.

“I’m sorry, Nettie. I didn’t mean to upset you,” Miss Lurleen said.

I shook my head and gulped down some more water. “No, it’s fine,” I wheezed. “Satsuma’s about—a hundred miles from here—maybe a little more.”

“Well, if you and Lurleen insist on making this a hen party, even your darkest tale will go down better with more chocolate.” Miss Emily forked another piece of cake. “Do tell, Nettie Gilbert, what is it that has you nearly asphyxiating?”

“Yes, Nettie, tell us your story,” Miss Lurleen said, motioning to the waiter to bring another piece of chocolate cake.

“It must be racy,” Miss Emily said, scraping the plate for the last of the frosting. “I love a good scintillating tale.”

“That’s not what interests me, and it’s rather cruel of you, Emily, to relish in Nettie’s predicament, whatever that may be,” Miss Lurleen snipped before she turned her attention to me. “You wear your burden so well, dear, it’s almost invisible. But the closer we got to your home state today, the more I felt it too.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“And I didn’t mean to imply
you
were burdensome,” Miss Lurleen added. “I just hate to see you carrying your troubles alone. It’s not good for you.”

The waiter put the second piece of cake in the center of the table. “Well, we know you’re not expecting. So, it can’t be that,” Emily said.

“
Emily
,” Miss Lurleen barked.

“Did you rob a bank? Join the Communist Party?”

“
Hush
, Emily, you know she’s done nothing of the sort. Have some more cake, Nettie.” Miss Lurleen speared an especially large piece and closed her eyes, luxuriating in the rich flavor. I didn’t want
any more, but I obeyed and learned that chocolate could loosen the tongue far better than any truth serum.

“My sister betrayed me,” I began.

Emily looked rather startled and motioned to the waiter. “Check please.”

“Yes,” Miss Lurleen said firmly when the man arrived at our table. “You may bring the check, but I’d love a cup of coffee with this last bite of cake please.” I declined coffee because I knew I wouldn’t sleep, and even without it I probably wouldn’t anyway.

“Of course, ma’am. ’Nother piece of cake for the table?” the waiter asked.

“Oh, why not,” Miss Lurleen said.

And then their eyes were on me. Miss Lurleen’s soft and blue and understanding. Miss Emily’s look was hard to peg, the jealousy that was always there seemed to be tinged with something else that looked a lot like guilt.

“Dessert for the ladies,” the waiter said, taking the empty cake plate and replacing it with an even bigger slice than the one before.

“I had a fiancé back home.” I stabbed a big chunk, closed my eyes and let the chocolate goodness loosen my tongue. “In Satsuma; his name was Brooks. A few weeks ago, my mother sent me an invitation to my baby sister’s wedding; she has to get married. Her and Brooks—” I shoved another piece into my mouth to keep the tears at bay, and surprisingly enough it worked. “Are expecting.”

“Oh, Nettie.” Miss Lurleen placed her withered hand on mine and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’m so sorry.”

Miss Emily said nothing, no verbal jabs, no disparaging remarks. Silence. She wouldn’t even look at me, and while her silence should have felt like some small victory, all it did was make me want to hear
her story. What had she done that had made Miss Lurleen so angry, she’d lived under the same roof with Miss Emily for seven years and didn’t speak to her?

I continued, my voice barely above a whisper. “As you can imagine, it’s hard for me, being so close to home.”

Miss Lurleen pushed the partially eaten third piece of cake away, signed the check, and drained her coffee cup like it was a good stiff drink. “I’m not sure what the best medicine is for your predicament, Nettie. Any ideas, Emily?” Miss Lurleen asked, her imperfectly arched eyebrows raised high.

“Yes.” She nodded and raised her azure blue eyes to mine, her face expressionless. “I suggest we get the hell out of Alabama.” And, for once, I agreed wholeheartedly with Emily Eldridge.

W
hat Nettie’s sister did to her was terrible, but it didn’t even come close to Emily’s transgression, and no amount of chocolate cake could make Emily share that story with the girl. As mean as she had been to Nettie, it would kill Emily to see the girl gloat over her sin. Even if Nettie didn’t seem to be the gloating kind.

Emily lay awake all night, while Lurleen slept like the dead. The blameless. And all she could think about was Teddy. She hadn’t allowed herself that luxury, that torture, in a very long time. Oh, her brother came to mind often, but she’d always hand-picked the sweet memories until there was only the boneless truth; and she wasn’t strong enough to ruminate on that any longer.

Her strength had always been her curse, something no one saw below her pretty exterior. It made her do things she didn’t want to do, persevere when she wanted to do nothing but throw her hands
up, maybe even turn her toes up on the underside of the grass. Emily certainly looked like a delicate flower. She wanted to be delicate, but she was twice as sturdy as Lurleen. Her backbone endured, carrying her forward day by day, a perpetual punishment.

Lurleen never said, but Emily knew she believed wholeheartedly Teddy was dead. Sometimes Emily wished he really were dead. At least she would know he was at peace. Those four years after the accident when he lost his mind were evidence enough that would be the only way he would ever know peace. But Emily suspected his guilt was like hers, propelling him forward whether he liked it or not. And what had happened wasn’t even his fault. He was just a child. Emily was the grownup, although barely, and, judging from her rash and immature decision, she hadn’t been much of one at all.

A car backfired on the street. Emily’s body stiffened. Her heart beat out of her chest and she could barely breathe. “Sister,” she called out. But all she heard was the
puff puff puff
of Lurleen’s breath. The rapid-fire sound pierced the quiet three more times before the engine roared away. Long after it was gone, Emily’s heart was still racing, her body as rigid as a single, unbreakable bone. “Sister,” she whispered again. Still no answer. “Teddy,” she mouthed the word and touched her heart.

The morning of the accident, Emily had gotten up extra early and primped for John’s arrival. While Lurleen looked like a man in her hunting clothes, Emily had on her best blue dress that made her eyes sparkle. The day before when Emily had met him at the garden gate, John didn’t even look at her, or at least not like she wanted him to.

John Young was every bit as beautiful as Emily, the only man she’d deemed truly worthy of herself. Tall, well over six feet. Broad shoulders, a tapered waist. Rugged features that with those
fathomless brown eyes ignited Emily’s body and her heart. Being just a year apart, there had always been a perpetual friendly competition between her and Lurleen, one that Emily always won. Although most of the time, she suspected that was the case because the competition was one-sided.

In John’s case, it didn’t matter. He never looked twice at Emily and hadn’t even been in town a month when he’d fallen madly in love with Lurleen. And there they were going hunting together again. Of course Emily knew, even though they came back with a few quail or ducks there was
some
hunting going on, but there had to be something else to it for John to all but ignore Emily.

And Teddy idolized John, especially after John gave Teddy one of his old guns and promised to teach him how to hunt deer, something Teddy had never had an interest in before. But Teddy couldn’t spend enough time with John, couldn’t get enough of the stories of John’s travels, growing up out west, and if Papa had been alive, he would have loved John too.

The last hunting story John had told around the supper table the night before had everyone except Emily enthralled; all she could think about was how she was going to get that man to notice her when he only had eyes for Sister. Well eyes for Lurleen and an elusive and most likely legendary twelve-point buck local hunters claimed to have seen and had dubbed Goliath. John held the record in his home state of Iowa, having slain a Goliath-sized deer, and Teddy wanted to be just like him. He’d told Emily so every time Lurleen went off hunting with John, and Teddy had been over the moon when John took him out to the rifle range to try out the hand-me-down gun.

It was a Saturday morning; Mama had left for work at the DuPont plant like always, well before seven. She’d been on shift
work since Daddy had died, because it paid more and because Emily was sure it pained her to be in their home with her three children with her sweet husband noticeably absent. It wasn’t that Mama didn’t love her children, but between work and the loss of her husband, Mama had been going through the motions for years. Which was where Emily and Lurleen came in.

Now that Emily was fresh out of college with her first teaching job and Lurleen had been working at the Kershaw County Library in Camden for a little over a year, the girls were expected to keep house, work, and look after their brother when the need arose. As long as everyone could stay busy, their minds occupied, no one—especially Mama—could dwell on the huge hole Daddy had left when he passed away. And Brother, sweet Teddy, was the very best child in the whole world. Charming, always funny, always entertaining whether he was tearing up the piano or sitting at the dinner table regaling everyone with tall tales about whatever had happened at school that day.

But Emily didn’t like living in a house where nobody acknowledged the hole that could never be filled; it made her feel inadequate, so much less than the rest of the world saw her. And she liked that view of herself, the ravishing young schoolteacher, on the list for every party, every important dinner, on display for only the handsomest, most promising eligible men in town to fawn over, fight over.

Her plan had been to pick one of her many suitors and get out of Mama’s rule and out from under the pall that had hung over the house. She’d narrowed it down to a half dozen men over the summer and had planned to choose one before school started next September, but then John Young moved to town and took a big job at the plant Mama worked at.

He was a good bit older than Emily and a challenge. He did not
fawn. He did not fight. He didn’t even notice Emily. And God, she’d never wanted anyone or anything like she’d wanted that man. Even after he’d fallen for Lurleen, Emily believed she had a chance. He was beautiful, Lurleen was not; sooner or later he’d see Emily the way the rest of the world did.

She was daydreaming on schemes to catch his attention that day when she went out back to feed the cat and happened upon John and Lurleen by the carriage house. John had Sister pushed up against the wall, kissing her, one hand in Lurleen’s bonny brown hair, the other sliding into the front of those horrid hunting khakis she insisted on wearing that made her look like a man. When Emily made her presence known, Lurleen jerked away from him and looked both relieved Mama hadn’t caught her and horrified that Emily had.

Much to Emily’s surprise, Lurleen’s hair was down and she’d actually put on rouge
to go hunting
. John didn’t so much as look at Emily. Right then and there, she decided she’d fix both John and Lurleen good.

It was Lurleen’s turn to watch Teddy; Mama was working at the mill and her daughters were certainly old enough to look after their fourteen-year-old brother. Lurleen had begged Emily to trade with her so she could go hunting with John the opening day of deer season, and Emily had agreed at first, until she’d seen them by the carriage house. John didn’t even apologize, just gave Lurleen a crooked smile that said he would finish what he started later. Worse yet, Lurleen blushed and returned the sentiment with another kiss, right on his lips.

Emily couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak, until the two of them separated and started for John’s truck with their arms around each other. Teddy ran out of the house and said hey to John, who kept walking and just waved over his shoulder like he didn’t have time for the boy. Nor the inclination for Emily.

“It’s
your
day to watch Brother, Lurleen.” Emily’s voice came out harsh and dripping with envy.

“Emily, no. You said—” Lurleen pulled away from John, but he grabbed her hand and didn’t let go.

“It’s your day,
Sister
.”

“Can I go with John and Lurleen?” Teddy begged. “Please, Emily. I wanna bring home a big buck like him. A state record.”

Lurleen shook her head. “No, Teddy, you can’t go. Opening day is too dangerous for a novice.”

“But I’m good, aren’t I, John? You said so yourself.”

Lurleen was a regular at the shooting range; sometimes she drug Brother along. When John learned of her penchant for guns, he became a regular too and started to teach Teddy how to shoot, something Mama had forbidden. When Teddy blurted out the secret at dinner one night, Emily was sure Mama would ban Lurleen from the shooting range and from John, but Mama thought it was wonderful that John was spending time with Teddy. Apparently because he was a man it was okay for John to teach him, but it was also okay because anyone could see Mama’s fatherless son adored John.

“Yeah, kid, you’re good, but Lurleen’s right. There’ll be more hunters than deer looking for that big buck. It’s not safe, buddy.”

“Emily,” Brother whined. “I wanna go. Please let me. Lurleen was supposed to watch me; she can watch me just as good in the woods as she can here.”

Emily knew what she was doing. A third wheel would take the enchantment right out of Lurleen’s little rendezvous. A little brother would definitely kill the romance, even if it was just for a little while. And John deserved at least that for slighting Emily, for not coming
under her spell like every other man in Kershaw County. “Of course you can go, Teddy,” she said, looking straight at Lurleen.

“Never mind. I’ll stay,” Lurleen said, looking longingly at John. “It is my turn to keep him.”

“I’ll stay with you,” John said.

“No, I’d hate for you two
deer
aficionados to miss opening day,” Emily said. “I insist you go and take Brother with you.”

“Great,” Brother yelled, and tore into the house. He came out with the rifle John had given him and joined the happy couple.

“This isn’t a good idea, Emily,” Lurleen said.

“It’ll be all right, sweetheart. We’ll do our best, keep him close,” John said to Lurleen. Which was exactly Emily’s plan; Brother would stay so close, there would be no breathless kisses for Lurleen, and John certainly wouldn’t try to get into her pants with Teddy around.

Emily was so proud of herself, after they left, she celebrated with a long bubble bath and then fixed her hair for her date that night. She didn’t even hear the police car when it pulled up out front, but when she floated from her room to the kitchen to get a glass of sweet tea, she saw a policeman ushering Lurleen into the house; she was covered in blood.

“Lurleen.” Emily flew to sister; her face was blank and ghostly pale. “Lurleen.”

“She’s okay,” the policeman said.

“My brother. Teddy. Where’s my brother?” Emily screamed. She ran to the screen door but didn’t see anybody in the squad car. “Oh, my God. Please. Where’s my brother?” Emily flung herself at the officer, pummeling his chest. “Where’s Teddy?”

“He’s at the hospital,” the policeman said. “Someone at the station called your mama; she’s on her way there from work.”

“Has he been shot?” Emily sobbed. “Dear God, is he dead? Please, no.”

“He’s in shock.” Lurleen’s voice was flat; she looked like she was in shock too.

Grateful, Emily threw her arms around Lurleen, but she peeled Emily off and backed away from her. “You took him from me,” she gritted out through tears. “Don’t touch me.”

“But Lurleen, Brother’s fine.” Sobbing uncontrollably, Emily reached for her, but Lurleen let out an inhuman yowl. She slapped Emily hard across the face, snatched a handful of her hair out, and went back for more. The policeman grabbed her but not before Lurleen got Emily in a headlock and started pummeling her face. Emily screamed, the taste of her own blood filling her mouth.

The policeman pulled Lurleen off of Emily. “That’s enough. It was horrible what happened,” he shouted, “but she’s your sister; you’re going to need her.”

“I hate her.” Lurleen glared at Emily, spittle flying like a rabid dog. “She’s dead to me,” she screamed. She pulled away from the policeman, went to her room, and did not emerge until three days later, just before John’s body was taken to the train station in Columbia to be shipped home to Iowa. Mama took Lurleen to the funeral home and she sat alone with his closed casket for hours until they loaded it in the hearse.

By that time, Brother had felt the full weight of what he’d done. Somehow he’d managed to slip away from John and Lurleen to try to shoot that
g.d
. deer that was folklore. Alarmed, John and Lurleen split up to look for him. Lurleen heard a shot and then Brother
screamed. The policeman said it was a wonder when she threw her gun down and ran in the direction of the scream that she didn’t get shot. When she got there, Brother’s body was draped over John’s torso, his face covering John’s or what was left of it. It was an accident. That’s what the game warden and the police had said, nobody’s fault, but that wasn’t true. It was Emily’s fault.

Emily told the police her part in John’s death, but she never told Mama or anyone else for that matter, and neither had Lurleen or Brother. Emily’s part in ruining Teddy, in John’s death, was both her cross and her secret to bear. A secret that drove Brother mad, a secret that turned out to be Lurleen’s revenge because she knew Emily could never tell Mama what had happened. Years passed, Emily’s guilt gnawed at her from the inside out, and by time Lurleen did speak to her again, Mama had passed away and Teddy had been gone for four years.

Was he alive? Was he dead? Would she ever know one way or the other?

“Emily?” Lurleen’s voice pierced the nightmare Emily had lived and relived for so much of her life, sometimes it seemed it was her life. “Are you crying?”