Heavenstone 02 - Secret Whispers

let me know. I want you to think of the three of us as one now. What happens to any of us happens to all of us, understand? Do you?” he asked, punching his words at me sharply.
    “Yes, Daddy.”
    “Okay. I’ve already ordered her a new jar. It should be shipped overnight and be here tomorrow. I don’t want to hear another word about it.”
    “Good,” I said. He nodded and started out. “Daddy.”
    “What?”
    “With all of this excitement, I forgot. Congratulations on being chosen Kentucky Citizen of the Year. Lucille told me.”
    “Oh, she did, did she? Well, thank you, Semantha. It will be a wonderful occasion for us all.” He smiled. “I think Lucille was more excited about it than I was.” He lowered his chin and raised his eyes and whispered, “I think she and her father had a little to do with it. Whatever. It makes for a nice wedding present. We’ll talk more about it at dinner, I’m sure.”
    As soon as he left, Cassie appeared in the doorway. She watched him walk away and then turned to look in at me.
    “He’s such a man fool now. If she had anything to do with his getting the honor, it wasn’t for him; it was for herself. She’ll do anything to climb the social ladder, even stand on his back. And you don’t have the courage to tell him so. He’s acting more like a worshiping servant than a fiancé. You—”
    I stepped forward and closed the door on her.
    Later, when I went downstairs, I saw Lucille sitting on the rear patio by herself. She was sipping a glass of wine and reading a large notebook. I wasn’t going to join her, but she turned sharply as if she could sense that I was standing there looking out at her. Not wanting her to think I was spying on her or anything, I continued out the French doors and joined her. It was a particularly beautiful twilight, with patches of milk-white clouds so still they looked pasted over the darkening velvet sky. Mother used to call these Angel Nights and told Cassie and me that the bright stars that appeared and grew even brighter were their eyes looking down on us all to decide whom they would help.
    “If you look really hard,” she said, “you can see them.”
    Cassie thought it was ridiculous, but I would swear even today that I did see angels.
    Lucille smiled. “I’m glad you came out, Semantha. Please,” she said, indicating the seat across from her.
    When I sat, I saw that the notebook was from the wedding planner. She closed it quickly.
    “I’m sorry you saw me so angry today,” she began. “Believe me, that’s not my usual manner when addressing servants or any employees, for that matter.”
    She took a sip of her wine. I wasn’t sure what she expected me to say, so I remained quiet.
    “I think it’s admirable that you feel you have to defend Mrs. Dobson and Doris. After all, they’ve been with you much longer than they’ve been with me. Loyalty is a good thing when it’s directed to the right places.”
    I realized Daddy must have told her what I had told him. It wasn’t a big betrayal, but it hammered home how serious and determined he was when he had said we would be keeping no secrets from each other. I realized he wanted to show me clearly that it would never be he and I on one side and Lucille on the other.
    “Mrs. Dobson and Doris don’t break things, and if they did, they wouldn’t lie about it,” I said.
    She shook her head and smiled again. “Semantha, Semantha, I envy you your innocence, especially when I consider all you’ve been through already in your young life. I, too, was eager to live in a world full of candy canes and lollipops, a world in which people were honest and true. It’s earth-shattering when you realize how few people you can really trust. Some people can’t deal with it at all and spend their entire lives with their heads buried in the sand. I always imagined them old and tired and alone, unable to rationalize or turn the other cheek any longer. It has to be far more difficult for them than for therest of us who mature and become realistic early enough in our lives to avoid the pain.”
    She tilted her head and changed the tone of her voice as if she were now talking to a very young child.
    “Do you think your father got to where he is today by being naive and avoiding reality? Hardly. He is one of the most emotionally centered and one of the strongest men I have met, and it’s for that as well as his other wonderful qualities that I love him so dearly.”
    “Neither Mrs.