Page 123 of Finding Forever

It couldn’t be the financial advisor, this person spoke with the familiarity of someone who knew her.

“Yes, this is Fern.”

“Fern, hi. This is Margot.”

Fern’s breath stuttered to a halt and the blood seemed to recede from her head. She staggered onto the nearby barstool, her knees giving way in shock.

“Margot?”

“Yes.”

“How did you—” She didn’t want to ask how the woman got her number, in case she thought it meant Fern didn’t want to speak with her. She didn’t know what her former friend wanted to say to her, but she owed it to Margot to let her get it off her chest.

“How did I get this number?” the woman completed her question.

“Yes.”

“I asked your husband for it.”

“You asked Cade? Why?When?”

“Just a few minutes ago, actually,” Margot said. It was hard to read her voice and Fern was uncertain of her mood. “But I thought I should call before I lost my nerve.”

“I see,” Fern said, not really seeing a damned thing, but hoped it would prompt Margot to continue. Her phone beeped while the silence stretched on for a few long moments. She checked the screen. It was Cade trying to reach her. He was probably trying to warn her that Margot would call.

“I saw you on Mike Holmes,” Margot informed, her tone slow and measured, as if she was carefully weighing every word.

“Did you?”

“It took me a very long time to stop hating you, Fern. And when I saw you on that show everything that happened back then came flooding back.”

“I’m so sorry,” Fern whispered, tears burning their way into her eyes at knowledge that she’d unintentionally caused Margot even more pain.

“No, that’s not why I’m calling. Last month, a couple of weeks before Christmas, my dad got a phone call, from an attorney claiming to represent you, offering full restitution of our shop. Along with a percentage of the revenue lost over the last decade.”

“W-what?” Fern whispered in shock, not sure what to make of the other woman’s words.

“Dad is old. It was hard for him to start over back when this all happened, he went to work with his brother instead. It took a long time but we finally reached a point where we were okay. Not just getting by… but okay. I went back to school about three years later. Life moved on, I got married, I have two children. My life is good. My family is fine. I wanted you to know that. We don’t need the money, Fern.”

“I wasn’t, I didn’t know…” Fern began but she didn’t know what to say because she wasn’t sure what was happening right now and sob caught in her throat as tears seeped down her cheeks.

“Fern, please don’t cry. I’m just trying to explain why we can’t accept the money. We’ve discussed it and would like you to donate the money to a local youth outreach program in our community on behalf of the family. I appreciate the gesture. Honestly, I do. Wealldo.

“I was so angry back then, I blamed you for everything. When it happened, I believed you were just another of those rich bitches from school, more sadistic than the rest. That our entire friendship was nothing but a cruel, elaborate prank. I felt that way for a long time. It took hindsight and maturity to understand that you were a victim as well. We often wondered, over the years, what had happened to you. And when we saw you on the telly the other day and learned that you’d spent the last ten years stagnating in that school, we were all heartbroken. Mum burst into tears.

“I forgave you a long time ago, Fern. And I just needed you to know that I don’t hate you. Thank you so much for offering restitution.”

“Margot, I’m so,sosorry,” Fern repeated, not quite sure what else to say. But getting the opportunity to apologize after all these years meant so much to her. “Please tell yourparents I’m sorry for what happened. The words are so inadequate, I know they mean little, but I’ve wanted to say them for so long.”

“I’ll tell them, Fern. I promise I will. But they forgave you even faster than I did. They tried for a long time to find out what happened to you, but as you can imagine, for people with our limited resources, it was impossible.”

Fern made a helpless sound of agreement, not at all sure what to say or do next.

Margot seemed to know though.

“You take good care of yourself, Fern. I’m so relieved to know that you’ve found happiness and that you’re free of that monster.”

“You take care too, Margot,” Fern said, her voice thick with the tears that were clogging up her nose and still streaming down her face.

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