The Secret Sister (35 page)

“Okay,” she said. “I—I'd better go. I have to call Roxanne.”

How would Roxanne react to the death of their mother? he wondered. She'd been kidnapped and raised by a former nanny. Roxanne had a dim recollection of what a tyrant Josephine could be, but she didn't have the memories and stories he and Maisey did. Since Roxanne had reconnected with Josephine, the two had built some semblance of a relationship. Roxanne probably got along with Josephine best, because she didn't feel the same resentment. Neither did she live close by. Staying a considerable distance away definitely helped.

Considering all of that, would Rocki be heartbroken by the news? Would at least
one
of Josephine's children be able to sincerely mourn her passing?

Or would even Roxanne be left to wonder if she was a horrible person for not experiencing more grief?

“I'll call you back as soon as I can give you more details,” Maisey promised.

“Wait,” he said. “What about Mom's Yorkie, Athena? Someone needs to take care of her.”

“Pippa took her home, which is the best place for her. She doesn't get along with Laney's cat. Max would tear her to shreds. And Pippa pampers that little dog as much as Mom did.”

He rubbed the goose bumps from his arms. “Okay.”

“Would you like to be on the call with Rocki? I could conference you in...”

“No, I'll let you break the news. I could use a few minutes.”

“No problem. I love you,” she responded and hung up.

After pushing the end button, Keith set his phone on the desk as if it were a bomb that might explode, rocked back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. His mother's death had so many implications. What would happen to the Coldiron fortune, which she'd controlled since her father died? Who had she left it to? Roxanne—or Maisey?

Perhaps she'd split it between them. But she couldn't split Coldiron House and would never want to see it sold. So what would become of their ancestral home? Would Maisey move out of the bungalow she shared with Rafe on the other side of the island—from which they managed the eight neighboring vacation cottages for Josephine—and take up residence at Coldiron House?

Keith knew Roxanne wouldn't move. She and her husband ran two businesses in Louisiana. They couldn't leave their livelihood behind. Neither would Rocki uproot her three kids.

A sudden longing sprang up, to walk through the halls of Coldiron House, to see his childhood home through different eyes, to somehow find the peace that had eluded him there. He'd loved visiting his grandfather on Fairham Island, before they moved there, when Grandpa Henry was alive. He used to say that Keith would own it all someday, that
he
would be the one to carry on the Coldiron legacy. Although Keith had never been close to his own father, not like Maisey, and he'd struggled just to get along with his mother, he'd been Grandpa Henry's favorite. Henry had always admired strength and spirit, even when it turned into willfulness—what had gotten Keith in so much trouble. Grandpa Henry had said he was once the same.

Maybe Keith would've put his grandfather's traits to better use if Henry had lived longer. Sadly, he'd died when Keith was only eight and that house hadn't represented the same thing since. They'd moved in after his death and it had been the family home ever since. But going back wouldn't be easy. For one thing, he'd be stepping out of his current routine, which kept him busy and focused on the right things. His schedule, the distance and his refusal to think about the past were what kept him safe from himself.

Still, he
had
to attend his mother's funeral. Had to help lay her body to rest in the family cemetery behind the house, beneath the moss-draped trees. Common decency demanded he attend the service, even if he didn't stay any longer.

After waiting a few minutes, he called Rocki. She'd just hung up with Maisey and was crying.

“You okay?” he asked.

“For the most part. Are you?”

“I don't know.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Are you planning to attend the funeral?”

“Of course. We'll fly to South Carolina as soon as we know when it is. We can't come before that. With our financial situation, we can't take much time off.”

“Things are that bad?”

“They're not
good
.”

She hadn't mentioned this to him before. She'd always said they were getting by.

“Is there something I can do to help? I'll pay for your flights, give you a loan—”

“I appreciate the offer,” she broke in before he could list other options. “But we'd rather not accept that kind of help. I'm afraid it would make Landon feel...inept. Just between you and me, he's already been dealing with some kind of midlife crisis. And even if we didn't have the financial pressure, the kids are in school.” She sniffed and he pictured her wiping her face. “What about you? Will you go to the funeral?”

“Do I have any choice?”

“Sure you do. Don't go if it'll threaten your sobriety, Keith. Your first obligation is to remain drug-free and healthy. Do what you need to in order to avoid a relapse. That's what the past five years have been about, right? If returning to Fairham could create a problem for you, Maisey and I will handle everything.”

He wouldn't rely on his sisters to take care of burying their mother and dealing with the aftermath. What kind of brother would dump it all on them? “No, I'll be there. You and Maisey have enough to worry about,” he said and opened the laptop on his desk to purchase a plane ticket to Charleston. He had to attend an important meeting tomorrow afternoon, so the earliest he could reach Fairham Island would be Tuesday.

He wasn't convinced he was ready to gamble on the progress he'd made. But he
had
to go. If he couldn't do his part when his family needed him, what was the point of changing at all?

Copyright © 2016 by Brenda Novak

ISBN-13: 9781460395998

THE SECRET SISTER

Copyright © 2015 by Brenda Novak, Inc.

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