The Wartime Sisters_A Novel by Lynda Cohen Loigman

Author:Lynda Cohen Loigman [Loigman, Lynda Cohen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781250140708
Amazon: 1250140706
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2019-01-22T00:00:00+00:00

Millie

Springfield, Massachusetts (November 1942)

The letter arrived in early November. It was the first piece of mail Millie had received since she’d moved. When she saw the return address, her throat began to tighten. The letter came from Brooklyn—from the DeLuca boys’ aunt who had fired her all those years ago.

Dear Millie,

I am writing to you in the care of your sister. If you are no longer in Massachusetts, I hope she will forward this to you.

Perhaps you have heard that my brother remarried. His new wife is a widow with a son of her own, and the boys seem to enjoy their new little brother. Sharing a house with two children was already a burden on my nerves, and the addition of a third was too much for me. I live a few blocks away now and see the family every weekend.

Last Sunday, our supper was interrupted by an unexpected visitor. My brother didn’t know the man, but I recognized him immediately.

Leonard did his best to be charming at first, but he became sullen and angry after he realized we had no information as to your present whereabouts. I did not mention what I knew of your trip to western Massachusetts. (I found out from your mother’s friend Mrs. Shapiro, who spotted you at the train station several months ago.)

I’m sorry to say, but I never trusted your husband. He kept unusual hours when he lived with you next door, and I could not help but overhear his many late-night outbursts. I could only assume that you did not want him to know of your recent relocation, but I wanted to make you aware of his search.

Please give my regards to your sister.

Sincerely,

Leora DeLuca

With shaking hands, Millie tore the letter into dozens of tiny pieces. She hadn’t heard from Lenny since the day he had left, almost a year ago. She had tried to contact Murray, but no matter how many times she called, the voice on the other end of the line insisted that she had the wrong number.

She had known when Lenny hit her that something in him had broken. He’d been angry before; he’d been dishonest and mean. But that night, he had crossed an invisible line. He must have known that he could never make it right with her again. He must have known she would never look at him the same way.

Mr. Solomon, the owner of the hat shop where Lenny once worked, took pity on her and hired her as a sort of assistant. The phone hardly ever rang, but he let her bring Michael, and sometimes she would rearrange the hats in the window. Every once in a while, she caught Mr. Solomon staring at her son and shaking his head. One day she had asked him, in a whisper, what he knew.

“Lenny and his brother owe a bunch of money,” Mr. Solomon explained. “An awful lot of money to an awful dangerous fella.”

“So, you don’t think they’re coming back?”

“Millie, sweetheart, from what I’ve heard, I’d be surprised if either one of them is still alive.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.