Part Four: What My Sister Had Hidden
Marlene lowered her hands.
“I meant to put it back,” she said. “I swear I did.”
“How much?”
She began to cry harder.
“I was exhausted. I had bills. I thought no one would notice because you weren’t looking at anything. Then more expenses came, and I kept telling myself I would replace it later.”
“You stole from a dying child.”
“I loved him too!”
The words echoed through the room.
I looked at the woman I had trusted for forty years. She had brought food to my house after Ethan died. She had chosen his funeral clothes. She had held me while I sobbed.
All that time, she had been hiding his belongings—and the truth.
“Love doesn’t give you permission to take what isn’t yours,” I said.
“I was trying to help.”
“No. You were deciding what I could handle. You were deciding what I was allowed to know.”
She looked toward the door.
The dog stood outside the screen, silent and watchful.
“Who is that dog?” she whispered.
“I don’t know.”
“But he led you here?”
“He brought me Ethan’s rabbit.”
Marlene’s expression changed.
For the first time, fear appeared beneath her tears.
I picked up the key.
“Ruth kept her promise,” I said. “A woman who barely knew Ethan protected his message for years. You were his aunt. You were the person I trusted most.”
“I was there for him.”
“So was Ruth. The difference is that she didn’t use his trust for herself.”
Marlene reached toward me.
I stepped away.
“I’m going to open the unit.”
“Diane, please don’t.”
“I should have known the truth years ago.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know.”
But I did not forgive her.
Not then.
I walked outside. The dog rose immediately and followed me to the car.
He climbed into the back seat without hesitation.
As I started the engine, I looked at him in the mirror.
“I’m calling you Watcher,” I said. “Because that’s what you’ve been doing all this time.”
He rested his head on the seat and watched the road ahead.
Together, we drove back to the storage facility.
