Page 15 of The Flame

I turned toward the door as I heard it open.

Brenda.

She didn’t look good. Her black hair was nested on her crown, as if she hadn’t bothered to run a brush through it. And there was a crazy, wide-eyed look in her stare. I understood. I’d been there, after all, when Roman had been locked in that cell.

She didn’t come inside the room. She stood there on the threshold, arms folded over a baggy sweatshirt that practically drowned her petite form. It had to be Daniel’s. “What do you want?”

“I wanted to see how you’re doing. I’m so sorry.” I stepped forward. “I saw Daniel last night. He’s okay, for now, and I swear I’m going to do everything I can—”

“Get out!” Her stare hardened, a drill boring into me. “Get out of my house.”

This wasn’t her house. Her and Daniel’s house was still under construction across the field. They were due to move in around Christmas. No doubt that project would never be completed now. Brenda and Daniel were never moving into their own Parklands mansion.

But that was all irrelevant. And she had every right to be mad at me. Daniel was locked away in a cell and it was my face, the truths I’d brought, that had put him there.

“Brenda.” I took another step toward her, my heart softening with empathy. I wouldn’t wish this frantic uncertainty on anyone, this not knowing what was happening with the man you love.

Brenda stepped back as I neared.

She was hurting. Vulnerable. Unsure about everything around her. I really did understand.

“Okay.” I stopped moving and put a hand up. “Look, Daniel is being held at the Guard Station just off the town square, across the road from Berkley House. I’m sure they’ll let you see him.”

“You are unbelievable.” Her tone was sharp enough to cut.

I squinted at her, my brow creasing. “I’m just trying to help.”

“Help?” An ugly laugh escaped her pursed lips. “By telling me what I should be doing?”

“I’m not telling you to do anything, Brenda. I was just letting you know where Daniel is.”

She wasn’t listening to me. “You just couldn’t stand it, could you? You still acted like Daniel was yours, even after he choseme!”

I shook my head. “That’s not—”

“And when you finally realized you couldn’t have him, that you’d never have this—” she flung her arms wide, encompassing the room, the house, possibly the entire town “—you made sure everything came crashing down in a vicious, jealous rage.”

She’d lost her mind. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I’m talking about you up there on the screens last night!” Her voice pitched, her eyes rounding even wider. “Was any of that even true? Or was it all just lies to destroy what I have?”

“Last night had nothing to do with you,” I tried to reason with her. “All I did was speak the truth.”

“The truth!” She sniggered, as if that were the most evil, vile thing she’d ever come across. “You wouldn’t have been so quick to speak your little truth, would you, to blow up everything, if all of this—” her arms flung wide – “was yours to lose?”

My mouth flapped on a thousand protests, but it would be a waste of time and breath. Brenda was beyond reason.

“Daniel chose me, and you couldn’t stand it.” She came forward, jabbing a finger at me. “You couldn’t stand it that I would be a councilman’s wife, that I’d have all this, the house, the family, the prestige, the wealth, the comfort…while you had nothing.”

She was so, so wrong. I had Roman. I had our house in the woods. I wouldn’t willingly have traded that for a hundred Daniels or a hundred grand estates or all the jewelry left in this miserable world.

“You couldn’t stop until you’d taken it all away,” she went on, her voice finally dropping into quiet, bitter sarcasm. “You won, Georga. You took everything from me. I don’t even have a damn house anymore. I’m…I’m like a leper in society, thanks to you. Congratulations.”

“You’re not a leper,” I said firmly.

She could hate me all she wanted, blame me all she wanted, but I wouldn’t leave her to fret in fear.

“You certainly won’t be homeless. The Sisters of Capra do not hold the wives and daughters of the councilmen responsible for anything. For goodness sake, look at Mrs. Bickens. She’s married to the General and she’s a prominent member of the Sisterhood. Both you and Miriam will be taken care of.”

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