Always in My Heart

“Our mother,” Callie concluded. “You thought she might show up.”

“Auntie Jean is her sister, after all.”

Callie looked forward, her jaw tightening. She hated thinking about their mother. It always brought her down. Twenty-three years ago, she had waited by the window in this very house, day and night, for their mother to return, as she’d promised.

She never had.

“Maybe she couldn’t come,” Callie said. “I mean, maybe…”

Deanna’s eyes closed tightly, even though Callie didn’t finish her statement. But with all this time that had passed, how could either of them ignore the possibility that their mother could be dead?

Certainly, for their aunt to have died, Miriam Hart would have made it to the funeral if she could have.

So many questions where their mother was concerned, yet no answers.

Callie didn’t want to think about their mother anymore, so she said, “I know it’s been a busy day, and you and Natalie haven’t really had a chance to talk. But I’m wondering…do you think you’re going to patch things up?”

“Ten years have passed,” Deanna said.

“That doesn’t answer the question.”

“I know… What I’m saying is, ten years have passed. I’m willing to put the past in the past.”

Callie raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure about that?”

Deanna sighed softly. “I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but if Auntie Jean’s passing hasn’t made it clear that holding grudges is pointless…”

There had been a lot going on today, but Callie had noticed that Natalie was making sure to avoid Deanna. The funeral and the aftermath was allowing both of them to be busy and completely avoid each other.

“You’re going to have to try to talk to her soon then,” Callie said. “Because she might be getting on a plane and heading back to Texas before we know it. Isn’t her husband’s team in the NBA finals? She’ll want to be there to support him.”

“You haven’t heard?” Deanna asked.

“Heard what?”

“Natalie and Vance split up. At least, that’s the gossip. You never know if it’s true or not, but I did notice she wasn’t wearing a wedding band.”

Callie narrowed her eyes. She hadn’t noticed. All she knew—from her aunt and uncle and from various news clips about four years earlier—was that Natalie had married a basketball star who played for the San Antonio Badgers. She didn’t keep up with celebrity gossip, and hadn’t heard anything about a split.

“I had no clue,” Callie said.

“The word is, Vance couldn’t be faithful. The latest news is that they just split a few weeks ago.”

Perhaps that explained why Natalie seemed completely inconsolable. She had been crying almost constantly, and had excused herself to head upstairs and lie down once they’d gotten back to the house.

“Wow, that’s horrible,” Callie commented.

“Yeah,” Deanna said softly. She paused. “When I first heard, I couldn’t help thinking that she got what she deserved. After what she did to me… But seeing her today, seeing how much pain she’s in…well, all I could do was feel pity.”

“All the more reason to let her know that you’re willing to put the past behind you,” Callie pointed out. “Men may come into our lives for a season, but we’re blood. We never should have drifted apart.”

“I hear you,” Deanna said.

One of them would have to make the first move. If she had to, Callie would do it on their behalf, once all the visitors had left the house.

In the grand scheme of things, how stupid had the whole incident been. Ten years they had been out of each other’s lives, and for what? Natalie had seduced Deanna’s boyfriend, which had been a horrible thing to do, and the rift between Natalie and Deanna had begun.

Callie remembered getting into the middle of the conflict, trying to help both of her sisters see the light. But they’d been so absorbed in their own differences and unable to reconcile, and had gotten mad at Callie for not understanding that the other sister was at fault.

Having had a close friend who had died after a severe police beating at the time, Callie grew tired of her younger sisters’ squabble. There were far more important things to deal with in the world.

Like the fact that she’d been pregnant and confused, and had felt alone.

“Speaking of men coming into our lives for a season,” Deanna began, “guess who dropped by the funeral home last night?”

“I don’t know,” Callie said, shrugging. Then she guessed the name of the guy Deanna and Natalie had become estranged over. “Marvin?”

“No, not Marvin, thank God. Nigel.”

Nigel! At the sound of his name, Callie’s heart slammed against her rib cage. Nigel had come to pay his respects to Auntie Jean?

Why was she surprised? Auntie Jean had adored him when they were together, and he her. One of the reasons Callie had stayed away and not told her family the entire truth was because she couldn’t trust that they wouldn’t let her secret slip to Nigel.

“He—he did?” Callie asked, her voice a croak.

“Mmm-hmm.”

Good Lord, was he going to drop by the house today? Callie suddenly looked toward the front door, as if he might show up at any moment.

“Did you—you talk to him?” Callie asked, then swallowed.

“Briefly. He said he came in to pay respects to Uncle Dave and the family. He offered us condolences, said how sorry he was for our loss, then he left.”

Did he ask about me? That was the next question on Callie’s lips, but somehow she stopped herself from asking it. As if she even had the right to think that after what she’d done.

Her stomach clenched, knowing that what she had planned to do was going to be excruciatingly hard. But it had to be done. As difficult as it would be to face Nigel, she knew that she had to.

She only hoped that when she dropped her doozy of a bombshell on him, he didn’t hate her forever.

Chapter 2

“Detective Williams?”

Nigel Williams sat up straight when he heard the soft voice on the other end of the line. Was this the call he had been waiting for?

“Yes,” he said. “This is Detective Williams.”

“I hear you wanted to talk to me.”