Page 66 of So in Love
“I need to tell you something.”
She didn’t stop slicing.“What?”
He moved to her side.“Stop for a second.”
She laid the knife down and pivoted toward him.“What’s the matter?”
“That day that I went to my mom’s to go through the Stowe memorabilia—we found something.She asked me not to say anything until we had more information.”
He watched her jaw work as she swallowed.“What did you find?”
“A couple of letters.One was from Turner Stowe to his mother.Turner was the youngest of Redmond’s sons and not involved in the KKK.Thankfully, he’s the one I look like.”He offered a meek smile.
“Really?There are pictures?”
He nodded.“Mom plans to turn them over to Kelsey.”
“I see.”She sounded…disappointed.Or something.“I’d love to see them.”
He touched her arm, cupping her elbow.“Hey, she planned to give them to Kelsey because of the exhibit.It’s not like she was trying to circumvent you.”
“I get it.”
He wasn’t convinced but decided to continue.“Turner’s letter was from 1923 and mentioned some interesting things.First, Hoyt had died and Turner said he never meant for it to happen.”
“Actually, I think I know about that part,” Crystal said.“Maybe I didn’t tell you.Sometimes I forget who knows what about this tangled story.Darryl found a couple of articles about an altercation involving a KKK group.The leader was stabbed to death, but the killer wasn’t identified or found.”
Jamie leaned his hip against the counter.“Wow.Turner said he never meant to cause harm, only to enforce justice.He said Hoyt and their father, Redmond, weren’t good men.Do you think Turner killed him?”
Crystal’s eyes widened briefly.“Anything’s possible with this crazy story, don’t you think?”
“I’m beginning to, yes.Turner’s letter also outright said they’d murdered a woman out of hate and intolerance.”
Crystal lifted her hand to her mouth.“So they meant to kill Dorinda.Why?”
He shrugged.“I don’t know.But here’s what I do know: Turner married a woman of color.There’s another letter from his aunt—her name was Clara—to his mother, Lavinia.She said she’d received the things Lavinia had sent but hadn’t destroyed them yet.”
Crystal gasped.“What things?”
“She didn’t say, but there were a lot of blank pages in the photo albums.I think those photos might’ve been part of what she’d sent.”
“KKK pictures, maybe?”
“Maybe.Clara also said it was good Lavinia was going to visit Turner and his family.She said it didn’t matter what color Lavinia’s grandchildren were, that they carried her blood and that’s all that mattered.”
Crystal blinked, her expression sad.“They sound like a family torn apart.I imagine that was hard for your mother—all of it, really.”
Her care for his mother touched him.“I’ll tell her you said that.She thinks this is all private family stuff, but she also understands it’s historically important.”Hethoughtshe understood that.
“I can see why she didn’t want to share this.”She looked up at him.“But I’m glad you did.”
“I feel like a jerk for not telling you sooner.But she asked me not to.She wanted to find out more information about Turner.I’m trying to do a little research on my own.”The edge of his mouth tipped up in a half smile.“I think you inspired me.”
Her eyes sparkled.“That is so sweet.”She stood on her toes and kissed him, but it was all too brief.“The water’s boiling.”She went to dump the pasta in.
“I want you to know that when my mom asked me to keep this hush-hush, she included everyone, not just you.”
Crystal came back to the cutting board and finished up with the broccoli.“Everyone?”
