Begun by Time

Author:Morgan O'Neill [O'Neill, Morgan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Entangled Publishing LLC
Published: 2015-08-23T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

9 October 1946

Catherine put the teakettle on the small, portable burner in the staff room to brew up some tea. She had been working full time in her father’s dental practice since the spring and felt settled in. She was proud of the efficiencies she’d brought to the office, and though she no longer had the bubbly personality she’d once had, she knew the patients and staff liked her.

She took the cozy off the teapot, rinsed out the remains of that morning’s brew, scooped in a fresh batch of tea leaves, and got out a cup.

The work also diverted her from getting too moody. Her tight-knit group of friends had dispersed, possibly forever. Poppy had taken a job in a local bank, while Susan was back in school at a women’s college, working toward a teaching degree. Mirin had met and married a wonderful man over the summer, and she was already expecting.

She delighted in their successes, but struggled to keep comparisons, the what-ifs, from overwhelming her thoughts.

Her questions about Jonnie remained unanswered. After The Bishop’s Crook reopened, Mr. Lloyd emerged a changed man. Angry over the way the police treated him, as well as the bad publicity, he refused to talk to anyone about the incident. She’d sent notes pleading for a moment’s conversation, but to no avail. And now, nearly a year later, she had to keep reminding herself that dwelling on it no longer served any good purpose.

Everyone else in the office was out on lunch break, so when the front doorbell jangled, she hurried out to see who it was.

“Nigel, how lovely to see you,” she said.

He entered, carrying a parcel, and gave her a faint smile. She noticed he looked pale, and there was a sheen of sweat across his brow. Sunday dinners together had become a ritual since Jonnie’s disappearance, and lately he’d lost weight. She’d simply attributed it to depression and anxiety, since she was suffering the same effects in her own body, but now she wondered.

“Please, do sit down. Is everything all right?”

“I’ve something for you, my dear,” he said, then coughed.

They sat side by side on a waiting room couch, and he kept the parcel on his lap.

“I’ve not been feeling well of late, and it occurred to me it is high time I tidied up my affairs.”

Alarmed, Catherine placed a hand on his arm. “Nigel, are you ill? Have you seen a doctor?”

“I have, and he’s asked that I get out more, go for walks, spend time with friends, and the like.” Nigel shrugged. “He doesn’t abide with the notion a man may perish from a broken heart.”

Catherine hugged him and then took his hands and looked earnestly into his eyes. “I think your doctor may be barmy, or he’s led a very charmed life. I certainly believe it to be possible, because I’ve felt brokenhearted since the day Jonnie disappeared, too.”

Nigel nodded and ran a trembling hand across his face. “In any case, my dear, I thought it would be best to give you this.

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.