Chapter 5 - THE RED STORAGE BOX
Mason remembered where he last saw the envelope.
Grandma’s basement.
Inside a red Christmas storage box.
My mother had kept several containers of Emily’s belongings after the funeral because I couldn’t face sorting them.
I asked for the box.
Mom refused.
Then my younger sister, Lauren, got involved.
“Mom, it belongs to Ryan.”
“It contains Emily’s personal things.”
“Exactly.”
Two days later, Mom delivered it.
Vanessa came with her.
I almost sent them both away.
Then I saw Mason watching from upstairs.
I let Lauren stay and asked Mason to remain with our neighbor until we finished.
The red box contained Emily’s stocking, old Christmas cards, Mason’s first ornament, scarves that still faintly smelled like her perfume.
No letter.
Mason had mentioned a blue notebook.
That was missing too.
Mom insisted she had no idea where it went.
Lauren frowned.
“Emily had a blue journal.”
Mom looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“Because she showed it to me once.”
Vanessa’s expression sharpened.
“When?”
Lauren ignored her.
“About two months before she died.”
I waited.
Lauren reluctantly continued.
“She was upset because Diane kept talking about how you’d eventually need somebody to help raise Mason.”
My mother stood.
“I was being realistic.”
“She thought you were planning her replacement while she was still alive.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
Then Vanessa said something she should not have known.
“Emily always thought people were trying to replace her.”
Everyone looked at her.
I felt something cold settle in my stomach.
“How would you know that?”
Vanessa hesitated.
Mom answered too quickly.
“She probably heard it from me.”
Probably.
Vanessa grabbed her purse.
“This is disgusting.”
She headed toward the door.
I followed.
Before leaving, she looked back at Emily’s photograph on the sideboard.
“You know what nobody wants to admit? Your wife didn’t trust you either.”
I watched her go.
May you like
For the first time, the mystery stopped being only about what Emily had written about Vanessa.
I began wondering what she had written about me.
