Chapter 15 - What the Sisters Became
Years softened the Bennett family.
Not into perfection.
Into honesty.
Lydia grew older.
Her health weakened.
One afternoon she asked Rosalie for the brooch.
Rosalie handed it over.
Lydia traced the petals.
“I once hated this.”
“So did I.”
“I thought it proved I had failed Vivien.”
Rosalie sat beside her.
“What do you think now?”
“That it's metal.”
Rosalie laughed.
“We gave it too much power.”
“Yes.”
Lydia returned it.
“I wish I understood sooner.”
“So do I.”
Rosalie did not lie to comfort her.
Lydia nodded.
Then smiled.
“Thank you for forgiving me without forgetting yourself.”
Lydia died that winter.
Horus followed the next year.
The Bennett house passed to Rosalie and Vivien.
They converted it into housing for unmarried rural teachers.
Some people complained.
Rosalie considered that evidence the idea was useful.
Eleanor became a teacher.
Henry became a doctor.
Wade's hair turned gray.
Rosalie's did too.
Vivien and Samuel had thirty happy years before Samuel died unexpectedly from pneumonia.
Vivien moved temporarily into the stone house.
One night the sisters sat beside the fire.
“Remember the church hall?” Vivien asked.
“Unfortunately.”
“I really believed Wade wanted me.”
“I know.”
“I was awful.”
“Yes.”
Vivien stared.
Rosalie laughed.
“You improved.”
“So did you.”
“I was always delightful.”
Vivien threw a cushion.
They laughed until both were crying.
Years earlier they had been taught that one sister's happiness required the other's disappointment.
Now they understood there had always been room for both.
Vivien eventually returned to her own home.
Rosalie and Wade celebrated thirty-five years of marriage.
At the anniversary supper, Wade raised a glass.
“I have one announcement.”
Rosalie narrowed her eyes.
“You know how this family feels about public announcements.”
Everyone laughed.
Wade smiled.
“I still choose her.”
Rosalie's throat tightened.
She raised her glass.
“And I still require time to consider.”
More laughter.
Wade kissed her.
It was one of the happiest evenings of their lives.
Six months later, Wade became short of breath while walking from the barn.
He dismissed it.
Rosalie did not.
The doctor examined him.
His heart was failing.
There was little to be done.
Rosalie sat beside him afterward.
“How long?”
“Months,” the doctor said.
“Perhaps longer.”
Rosalie looked at Wade.
Thirty-five years suddenly felt unbearably short.
May you like
And for the first time since she had learned to choose her own future, Rosalie faced something no choice could prevent.
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