Sweet Tea and Secrets (17 page)

Jill headed back into the attic space. The hole in the floor over Pearl’s room added a little light. That was helpful. She walked over to the chest she’d spotted before. She moved the cardboard boxes from the top and then brushed off the lid with her hand. Years of dust had accumulated and there were cardboard pieces scattered around, probably from mice.

The smell of cedar hit her as soon as she pushed back the heavy lid of the huge chest. The contents were lean, only three white stationery boxes. A delicate ribbon, probably blue at one time, secured each box. Even with the door off the hinges, the attic felt a little creepy so she picked up the top box and headed back downstairs.

She stopped long enough to let Clyde out back and then set about boiling some water to make some sweet tea just like Pearl used to make.

Jill sat back down at the kitchen table and tugged the ribbon that secured the box. She gently lifted the top to see what was inside.

Letters. Lots of them.

She flipped through the stack. The letters spanned a two-year period, in order, starting in 1943. The same masculine print addressed each letter, but the postmarks were from all over the world including exotic places like Tahiti, the Cook Islands, Japan and others she couldn’t decipher. No return address.

She did the math in her head. These letters dated back to just a couple years before her dad was born.

Jill opened the top envelope and slid out the contents. The paper was thick, considered fine even by today’s standards. The letter was short, but the longing of lovers separated by distance was clear. The letter was signed, “
With all my love, John Carlo.”
John Carlo had beautiful penmanship, but the ‘40s were a more formal time.

Jill had taken a handwriting analysis class right after college. No one in Adams Grove had been safe from her analysis that year. She’d examined the handwriting of just about everyone in town, and it was almost scary how dead-on the readings were.

She held the letter and tried to recall the old skill. The tall upper strokes of the letter L and H in John Carlo’s words meant he would reach for his goals. The narrow spacing between words meant that he wanted to be close to her, well Pearl in this case. Jill hadn’t thought about those handwriting theories in a long while. Her skills were rusty, but she was pretty sure those old handwriting analysis books were still on the bookshelf downstairs.

It was hard for Jill to imagine Pearl in love. Jill felt a little guilty reading these private letters and dipping into Pearl’s most private moments, but she couldn’t bring herself to put them away. Recollections of weekends that her grandmother had spent with John Carlo were filled with sentiments of their ecstasy while together and the heartache of being apart.

“I still feel the warmth of your embrace, your mouth on mine, every detail of your face and the curve of your hip,”
John Carlo had written.
“The mere thought of you sends a warm shiver through me. I yearn to be near you. Will you wait for me?”

Jill picked out the next one off the stack to read. The letters opened up a whole new side of Pearl that she’d never known.

Jill read the closing on this short note.

“Inez. You are my pearl, my treasure, my world,”
he had said.

She knew her grandmother’s birth name was Inez, but she’d never thought to ask how they’d come to call her Pearl. After about a dozen letters, John Carlo had begun addressing the love letters to her as Pearl.

Then the series of notes changed. Next in the stack were letters that Pearl had sent to John Carlo, and he had responded in the margins. Jill leaned in toward the letter, wanting to feel closer to Pearl, to John Carlo, to their endearing love. These letters were the best because she got both sides of the story. It was in these letters that her grandmother began signing her notes
Pearl
.

“I love you,”
Pearl had written.

“More than life, my dear,”
he’d written in the margin.

“I’m set to meet you off the cape as we planned on the 19
^th
,”
Pearl had continued.

“I’m counting the moments until I have you in my arms. I’ll be waiting. I have a special gift for you,”
he’d written.

“I pray for your safe arrival. I will wait as long as it takes for you to get there,” wrote Pearl.

“I’ll never let you down, my love.” He’d signed it JCP with a heart next to it.

Jill held the note close to her heart, happy to know that Pearl had known such a true love. Pearl had said she was going to tell her the love story of all love stories. This had to be what she’d been talking about. No wonder Pearl was such a romantic. Jill swept away a tear and tucked the letter back in the stack.

Something crashed outside. She spun to look behind her and the letters fell from her hands. Clyde must have stepped in his bowl and flipped it over, because he was standing with his giant paws draped over the Dutch door.

“You nosy galoot. You’re too big to be doing that.”

He flapped his ears and slithered down.

“You’re so sensitive.” Jill stood and peered over the Dutch door at Clyde, but all she got was an exaggerated sigh. “I’m sorry.”

He rolled over to his side, his paws in the air.

“I can’t reach you from in here.”

He rolled back over and sat. His tongue dipped and curled as he panted.

“I’m going back up to the attic. Want to come with me?”

Clyde spun in a circle, forgiving her in an instant. Jill opened the door for him and started for the stairs, but Garrett and Scott’s warnings echoed in her head. She turned back, bolted the door and got her cell phone.

She carried the box of letters tight against her chest. As she walked through the living room with them, she remembered the small picture of Pearl and the man on the mantel. She walked over to the fireplace and stepped up on the hearth. Turning the frame over, she pushed the hardware to the side and removed the picture held tightly behind the cardboard. The familiar penmanship wasn’t a surprise. In faded ink it read,

Inez —

If the world is my oyster, you are my Pearl.

Keep all that is the foundation of our love safe, forever.

You are the love of my heart. My one real find among all the treasures.

John Carlo

Why didn’t you ever tell me about him, Pearl?

Jill returned the picture to the mantle and headed back to the boxes in the attic. The second box contained stacks of faded pictures and keepsakes. Pressed flowers, napkins, match pads and postcards from several exotic places all mixed in with pictures of a young Pearl, probably at about Jill’s age, with the handsome dark haired man.

Her phone jingled. She flipped it open and was greeted by Garrett.

“I’m returning your call,” he said.

Her mood veered sharply to anger. “Everything I wanted to say to you was in the message I left. Is there a problem?” Her tone was cool, but she didn’t even care.

“No. I can make Friday work.”

Jill shrugged as the silence became awkward. “Okay, so?”

“Yeah, so it’s fine. You sound busy. What are you doing?”

“Going through old pictures and stuff. By the way, did Pearl ever mention someone named John Carlo to you?”

“Don’t know him. Why?”

“Never mind.” She picked up a pressed flower and held it to her nose though its scent was no longer there. “So, I’ll see you at Connor’s office on Friday morning?”

“I’ll pick you up.”

“That’s not necessary. I know the way.”

“It’s on my way.”

“Fine,” she said. “About quarter to nine work for you?”

“Yep.”

“I’ll see you then.”

“Oh, you’ll see me before that,” he said. “I’m not letting you stay there alone with all this going on. I was just at the diner. Word is all over town about the attic incident. There hasn’t been this much excitement in this town since those two guys broke out of the Sussex County jail. People are locking their doors, Jill.”

“It must be a slow gossip week. You know how folks love to dip in everyone else’s business around here. They’ll get over it.”

“I’m serious. Chaz said he’s cut more keys this week than he did all last year.”

“That’s only because no one uses a key in Adams Grove. You know that.”

“That’s my point. I’m not joking around. Folks are locking their doors. Some for the first time in their lives.”

“They’re overreacting. I’ll be fine.”

“I know, because I’ll be there.”

“I don’t have time to argue with you about this. Someone is beeping in on my other line. I’ll be fine.” She clicked over to the other line. This time it was Carolanne calling. Jill sat down on the living room hearth and went through the details of what had happened since they last spoke.

“In New York City, we’d just consider that a normal day,” Carolanne said. “But that kind of stuff never happens in Adams Grove.”

Jill could hear the concern in Carolanne’s voice. “Scott did say the biggest crime he’d had to deal with in the past eighteen months was some guys from Tidewater hunting on posted land, which is really the game warden’s gig anyway. Guess he’ll earn his paycheck this year,” she said, hoping to lighten the mood.

“Don’t tease. It’s getting scary.”

“I’m trying not to think about it. So what about Pearl’s will? Can she leave the property to Garrett and me jointly? Because that’s definitely not going to work.”

“She can pretty much do what she wants. One of you could buy the other out. Is the property joint, or did she split it up?”

“I don’t know. We don’t meet with Connor until Friday.” She traced the line of the mortar between the bricks, wishing life were as clean and straight as these lines. “It’s crazy. Everything is a mess.”

“Don’t get yourself wound up. Pearl wouldn’t do anything that could be that bad, and Connor’s good, really good. I can’t see him steering Pearl wrong. Can you believe Connor is back in town? I haven’t talked to him in ages.”

“I guess I’ll have to wait until Friday then?”

“Relax. I’m sure it will be fine.”

“You’re right.” Jill sat straighter. “I came here thinking I’d empty and sell this place, but after being here, I don’t want to leave.”

“Are you thinking about moving back?”

“I’d be lying if I said the thought hadn’t crossed my mind. But don’t breathe a word. You know how stuff spreads around here.”

“What else is up?” She and Carolanne caught up and they shared a few laughs over stories about Clyde.

“Well, I for one am glad you got saddled with Clyde, no pun intended. Okay, I did intend the pun, but seriously, when I went through all that stuff with Dad after Mom died I don’t know what I’d have done if I hadn’t had Black Max. Unconditional love. Always agrees with whatever you say, and they never give their opinion.”

“That has been a plus,” Jill admitted.

“And he ought to keep you safe.”

“At least the size of him will scare strangers off.”

“Give me a call after your meeting Friday.”

“Friday can’t get here quick enough.”

“And keep those doors locked,” Carolanne warned.

“I will.”

Jill said her goodbyes and started dinner. There were things in Pearl’s fridge she needed to use else they’d go bad, and Pearl hated waste.

She loaded up a sauté pan with leftovers and fresh veggies for a stir-fry. The food began to sizzle as she gave it a good stir with a wooden spoon, then hit speed dial on her cell to call Bradley to check in. He answered on the first ring.

“Hey baby doll. Are you finally on your way home? Things aren’t the same without you around.”