wake up one day and realize she’d turned against the very principles she’d spent a lifetime affirming. She would hate herself—and eventually hate him.
She missed him, though. More than she’d ever thought possible.
Would he really do his best to forget her?
A knock sounded. “You’ve been in there over an hour,” Florence said from the other side of the door. “If you don’t come out in the next five minutes, I’m barging in.”
Florence would absolutely do it, too. “I’ll get out soon.”
“Now, Tina. The water must be ice-cold.”
She peeked at her toes and noted a bluish cast to her skin. Sighing, she rose and reached for a towel. “You may stop hovering,” she called.
No one answered. Hopefully, Florence had gone away and would remain so. Justine hated lying to either of her sisters. Sooner or later they’d find out what happened, but the conversation would prove easier the more distance Justine had from Jack.
Wrapped in her dressing gown, she emerged from the washroom.
She froze. Mamie and Florence were both sitting on her bed, frowning in her direction. Florence must have summoned Mamie while Justine was in the bath. This meant Justine’s night was about to get even worse.
She sat at her dressing table and began brushing her wet hair. It was easy to ignore her sisters because Mamie and Florence hated silence of any kind. As predicted, they started talking to each other when Justine didn’t speak.
“I told you she looked terrible,” Florence murmured.
“I thought you were exaggerating,” Mamie said. “But I can see you were not.”
“Weren’t you concerned when she didn’t show up to the legal aid society?”
“No. She’s been coming and going at strange hours of late. I assumed she was working on another one of her projects.”
“Well, you should have been paying better attention. She’s been knitting for God only knows how long.”
“What about you?” Mamie’s voice hardened. “You are the one living in the same house with her. Or, are you too busy with Clay and the casino to keep watch over our little sister?”
“Yes, I am very busy, Mamie. The casino is taking up all my time. I cannot do everything here while Daddy and Mama are away, too.”
“Stop it.” Justine slapped the brush on the table. “I am not a child. You needn’t keep watch over me. Furthermore, do not discuss me as if I am not in the room.”
Her sisters closed their mouths, properly chastised, for about ten seconds. Mamie recovered first. “Justine, your well-being is our responsibility while our parents are gone. We know you are not a child, but you are an unmarried girl visiting dangerous neighborhoods and dangerous men. We have a right to be concerned.”
“As you can see, I am perfectly well. I would like to get some sleep, so if you’d get off my bed now . . .” She shooed them with her hands, but her sisters didn’t move.
Mamie lifted her chin. “I am not budging from this spot until you tell me what has upset you. Were you hurt?”
Not physically. “No. I’d rather not talk about it.”
“Too bad,” Florence said. “I am quite content to sit here all night, if necessary. What about you, Mamie?”
“Frank sometimes snores, so I am perfectly happy right here in Justine’s bed. I could stay the week, actually.”
After living with them for twenty years, Justine knew her sisters were not bluffing. “You two are absolutely awful.”
Mamie patted the mattress. “Come lie down and tell us all about it. God knows we’ve talked to you enough about our troubles over the years.”
Florence reclined on a stack of pillows. “Definitely. You’ve always been our sounding board, Tina. So, let us return the favor and help you—even if it’s just listening.”
Exhaustion swept over Justine and she crawled onto the bed. All she wanted at the moment was to sleep. “That’s the problem. You don’t merely listen. You both run roughshod over my life. You always have. Remember when you convinced me I could get to Paris if I kept running toward the horizon? Or when you made me sled down the dangerous hills first? How about when you told me to touch the electric socket because it wouldn’t hurt?”
Florence cleared her throat and exchanged a glance with Mamie. “You make us out to sound like some kind of bullies. But we’d never do anything to seriously injure you.”
“That’s true. We love you. Good God, you’re the best of all of us. How could you ever doubt that?”