To the Grave Read Free Page B

sometimes.” After a moment she said, “When Eric and I got back together after five years I felt at first that it was too good to be true. Maybe that’s why I kept pushing him away.” She paused. “Are you feeling like you being with James is too good to be true?”
    â€œWell, being with James is wonderful. I guess sometimes I feel it’s too wonderful because he was married.”
    â€œOh no.” Marissa grimaced. “You’ve been thinking about Renée. Why?”
    â€œMrs. Paralon mentioned her to me the other day.”
    â€œMrs. Paralon rehashes forty-year-old gossip as if it’s hot off the press. No one pays any attention to her.”
    â€œMaybe. But it made me think of Renée, especially when Dad insisted that all of us attend James’s wedding to her in New Orleans.”
    â€œJeez, Catherine, that was years ago!”
    â€œYes, but I’ll always remember it as one of the worst experiences of my life.”
    â€œWell, don’t get mad at Dad about it now. He and James’s father had been friends forever and the families were friends—we couldn’t skip the wedding.”
    â€œ I didn’t have to go.”
    â€œI know Dad kept pestering you about it, but since you and I weren’t little girls anymore he thought it would be our last trip as a family. And it was.”
    â€œI’ve never been mad at Dad for guilting me into going to the wedding. How could I be? He didn’t know how I felt about James.”
    â€œNo, I don’t believe he had a clue. Only Mom and I knew.”
    Catherine’s gaze snapped toward her sister. “ You and Mom? I told her I cared about James in strictest confidence and she promised she wouldn’t tell anyone else!”
    â€œShe didn’t tell me, but I could tell you were crazy about James.”
    â€œOh no,” Catherine groaned. “If you could, other people probably could, too. What if guests at the wedding were laughing about the girl gazing at James with big cow eyes full of love?” Catherine could feel her face growing hot. “I shouldn’t have looked at him at all!”
    â€œRelax. You did a great job of hiding your feelings. Dad didn’t notice. You were cool and composed, even when James introduced you to the bride.”
    â€œOh God. Renée. I’ll never forget all the thick, gleaming black hair cascading down her back, those huge, doe-like eyes, her porcelain skin. No wonder he married her barely three months after meeting her. She was so beautiful.”
    â€œShe was striking in a flashy, sexy way. You are beautiful,” Marissa said firmly.
    Catherine went on as if Marissa hadn’t spoken. “You say no one knew how I felt about James, but she did. I could tell when she looked at me. She was amused by my love and my misery and I hated her, Marissa. I don’t think I’ve ever hated anyone, but I hated her.”
    â€œSo did everyone who knew her in Aurora Falls by the time she vanished.”
    Catherine glared at her sister. “Why did you say ‘vanished’?”
    â€œI don’t know. I guess because that’s what so many people say.”
    â€œPeople who think James killed her say ‘she vanished’ because it sounds creepy.”
    â€œYeah, well a lot of people love drama and Renée gave it to them. For years, she stirred up trouble in Aurora Falls, broke up at least two marriages, pushed James to what everyone thought was the breaking point; then suddenly she was gone. No one saw her leave and no one has heard from her again.” Catherine sighed. “James could have saved himself a lot of grief if he’d divorced her a few months after marrying her, before she had so much time to become a … a legend.”
    â€œA legend! Oh, that’s just great.”
    â€œIt’s true.”
    â€œYou’re certainly creative today, but your memory is terrible, Marissa.