Page 80 of Tattered Edges

My mind whirled at this revelation. I didn’t know what to make of it. Of course, I knew how close in age Archie and I were, but I’d never thought much of it. My brother had called me a love child the day we met. Now, I wondered if he knew, or if he was just spouting off in his anger.

Glancing at Eloise, I didn’t registershock—but I didn’t get the chance to ask.

“What was your plan, here?” Rory interjected. “You were rummaging about when I got here. What were you looking for?”

Juliet folded her arms across her chest and raised her nose defiantly.

“The police are on their way,” I said. “If you don’t tell us, you’ll have to tell them.”

Cutting her eyes at me, she admitted, “I was looking for the deed to the building.”

For a moment, I didn’t know what to say, not having expected that answer.

“Well, you’re wasting your time,” I murmured. “It’s not here. Mr. Johnson suggested I keep it someplace more secure. You’ll never get it, so I suggest you stop trying.”

I heard footsteps in the stairwell and realized the police had arrived. Yet, as they drew closer, the thought of watching the two of them get arrested didn’t sit right with my conscience. What they’d done was wrong, butwhythey’d done it didn’t have anything to do with me. Not really. They were upset with theotherSawyer—only, he wasn’t around to be the recipient of their anger and grief.

“Give me the key,” I demanded, taking a step toward Juliet, my palm open and extended. “Give me the key, and I won’t press charges. We’ll chalk it up to a misunderstanding, and you and I will never speak to each other again.”

Juliet looked from me, to Rory, and to the open doorway before returning her calculated gaze back on me. She then sighed, reached into the hidden pocket of her skirt, and extracted the key.

“I mean it,” I whispered as I closed my fingers around it. “I hope we never see each other again.” Then, mere seconds before we were interrupted, I looked to Eloise and murmured, “You have no idea how lucky you are to have grown up with a father who loved you. Whatever this was for you—it won’t bring him back. Neither does my being here diminish how much you meant to him. Maybe one day you’ll see that.”

I couldn’t say for sure, but a look that might have read contrite changed the expression on her face. It was there one second and gone in the blink of an eye, just as a knock sounded at the door.

Ididn’tthinkI’dhave need of Mr. Johnson’s legal services again, but he was my first call the following morning. While I had no intention of pressing charges against the Blackstones, their harassment contradicted their agreement to honor Sawyer’s will, and I thought it prudent to make him aware. Being the kind man he was, he wasted no time drafting a cease and desist letter to be delivered by week’s end. I hoped it was warning enough. Only time would tell.

It wasn’t until a couple of days later, after my locks had been changed and I’d had the chance to sit with it for a while, that the full effect of the break-ins truly hit me. Greater than the fear, which had come and gone, or the looming uncertainty of not knowingwhoorwhy, I was left with the disheartening reality of the truth.

It was one thing for the Blackstones to be uninterested in me. I could wrap my head around how they’d decided knowing me wasn’t a desire they harbored, choosing to cast me in the role of stranger or even an inconvenient by-product of a summer fling from long ago. But to acknowledge the lengths they were willing to traverse in order to try to get rid of me—it was the harshest rejection I’d ever experienced. Yet, even worse than their rejection was my inability to understand what it was about me that repelled the people I’d hoped to hold dear.

My parents.

My siblings.

My family.

It didn’t seem fair or right to believe any of them simply didn’t want me. The whole situation was far too complicated to boil it down to that. Except, it couldn’t be disputed how none of them knew me. Not even my mother—not really. And it wasthat—thattruth, the actuality of how I had been rejected or pushed aside or deprioritized before I’d even been given a chance to show them who I was which left me deflated. Like, in their eyes, I hadn’t been worth the time or effort.

I’d been taking what I could get my whole life. It was the only way I knew how to survive. It’s what got me to London. And while I refused to regret my life choices, I did feel a bit foolish for my optimism.

After a couple of days in my head, I couldn’t help but to feel a little sad—like the events of Monday night were the final death tolls of any hope that remained of the possibility of being a sister.

It wasn’t until after I watched Eloise leave with Juliet that I realized I was still holding onto it. While it should have been easy to let go, given everything, it wasn’t.

I’d stayed at Rory’s for a couple more nights, which did wonders for my mood. But on Thursday, when the Parlour was open for business, I found myself at home and alone. Truly alone. It was then when I noticed the family photo from my desk was gone. I wasn’t looking for it. It was just a random moment when I looked over and realized it was missing.

I was sure Eloise had taken it—and when the urge to cry snuck up on me, I didn’t deny the feeling but let the tears come.

The first time I’d seen the photograph I’d wept at the loss of thepossibilityof my father. Now, I’d lost the only image of him I’d ever had. Moreover, my dream of being one of them—however short lived it was—had been stolen, too.

When Rory called me later that night, my tears had subsided, but I was still in my feelings. I didn’t want him to know. We were still new, and I longed to bask in that. I didn’t wish to burden him with my emotional turmoil. The last thing I wanted was to turn him off or push him away, so I took a deep breath before I answered and plastered on a smile he couldn’t see, hoping it would come through in my voice.

“Hi. I wasn’t sure if you’d still be up,” he said in greeting.

“Yeah, I’m awake. I’m in bed, but not asleep yet,” I replied, pulling the phone away from my ear to check the time. It was a few minutes after ten.

“Do you want company?”

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