The Silent Sister (45 page)

“This explains a whole lot about our Jade,” Celia's mother, Ginger, said to me when I visited Jade over the Christmas holiday. She was showing me how to make ribbon candy, and she and I had thoroughly messed up the Linds' kitchen. “I've always felt there was something missing in her,” she said. “Some sad place inside her. You've come along and filled it up.”

How does Danny fit into the lives we're creating? He's not ready to come to Seattle, and I'm not sure he ever will be. He has no desire to leave his trailer in the forest. He's promised to respond to my e-mails and I'll go back East at least once a year to make sure he's doing okay. Jade and I don't talk about it, but I worry that Danny may always pose a threat to her. It's his love for me that will keep her safe and I'll nurture that love with everything I have in me.

In the apartment we're exploring, I open the door to a second bedroom and see that the window looks out on a park. I picture myself setting up my father's rolltop desk in that room. It's the one thing of his I've kept for myself. The desk will take up half the room, but it will be worth it.

When we're together, Jade and I don't talk about the past. We don't talk about the mistakes or the deception. We talk about what Alex and Zoe are doing in school. About the music Jade and Celia are writing. About my job search. We take the kids to the park and museums, and we laugh a lot. I see the joy in Jade's face and I'm happy to know that I'm part of the reason for it.

I walk from the bedroom that will become my office into the hall bathroom. The entire wall above the vanity is mirrored. My bangs are askew and I can see the small scar on my forehead. The bright lighting makes it stand out more vividly than I've seen it in years, and I lean forward for a good look.

Jade is in the doorway, and she watches me.

“Everybody has a scar, Riley,” she says, touching my shoulder. “Maybe they've fought a terrible illness. Or they've lost a child, or been hurt by someone they love. Or maybe they've been unlucky enough to lose their family. But then again”—she smiles at me in the mirror, then reaches out to smooth my bangs over the mark—“maybe they've been lucky enough to find one.”

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Whoever says editors don't edit these days does not have my editor! I'm enormously grateful to Jen Enderlin for her brilliant vision, her patience, and especially her passion. I thank you, Jen, and above all, Danny thanks you.

I don't know what I'd do without my amazing agent, Susan Ginsburg. Susan's a hands-on agent who treats my books as though they're her own babies, and she reads them with insight and wisdom. Thanks for your skill as an agent and for your warm friendship.

I'm also grateful to my agent in the United Kingdom, Angharad Kowal, as well as to all the folks at Pan Macmillan in the UK, especially publishing director Wayne Brookes (whose e-mail always makes me smile), Louise Buckley, and Becky Plunkett.

I'm in awe of the entire energetic and talented team at St. Martin's Press, including but definitely not limited to president Sally Richardson; my publicist, Katie Bassel; and the extraordinarily creative Olga Grlic, who I thank for this evocative cover. I'm so happy to be working with all of you.

Thank you to the two violinists who helped me bring Lisa and her music to life. Both Christina Wohlford and Fiona Warren Hirsh graciously answered my endless questions.

Thank you to my brother, mystery writer Robert Lopresti, who unwittingly inspired this story with one of his own.

For their various contributions, thank you Kathy Williamson, Frank and Janine Palombo, Reggie McAllister, Donna Cohen, Patty and Ed Toth, and Tania and Philip Little.

As always, thank you John Pagliuca, for listening to me fret about people who exist only in my head. I don't know what I'd do without your patience and your out-of-the box brainstorming skills.

For the sort of support only other authors can provide, I thank the six other members of the Weymouth Seven: Mary Kay Andrews, Brynn Bonner, Margaret Maron, Katy Munger, Sarah Shaber, and Alexandra Sokoloff. I'm especially grateful to Brynn and Katy for reading a very early draft and not chortling with derision. Your comments were invaluable!

I'm indebted to my readers who join me on my Facebook page every day. I've turned to them for the names of characters and places, and they never fail to respond with enthusiasm and inventiveness. I owe Slick Alley, the Spoon and Stars Café, Verniece (my favorite!), and various and sundry other names to those creative readers. I'm grateful to them for getting into the writing spirit with me.

And to those of you who read and reread my books, thank you. Your e-mail and comments warm my heart and you are always on my mind as I write. I have the coolest job, getting to share my made-up worlds with people who care as deeply about them as I do. I look forward to sharing them with you for a long time to come.

 

A
LSO BY
D
IANE
C
HAMBERLAIN

Necessary Lies

The Good Father

The Midwife's Confession

The Lies We Told

Secrets She Left Behind

Before the Storm

The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes

The Bay at Midnight

Her Mother's Shadow

The Journey Home
(anthology)

Kiss River

The Courage Tree

Keeper of the Light

Cypress Point

Summer's Child

Breaking the Silence

The Escape Artist

Reflection

Brass Ring

Lovers and Strangers

Fire and Rain

Private Relations

Secret Lives

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DIANE CHAMBERLAIN is the international bestselling author of twenty-three novels. She lives in North Carolina with her partner, photographer John Pagliuca, and her shelties, Keeper and Cole. Visit her online at
www.dianechamberlain.com
.

 

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

 

THE SILENT SISTER.
Copyright © 2014 by Diane Chamberlain. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

 

www.stmartins.com

 

Jacket photograph © Gary John Norman/Stone/Getty Images

 

eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to [email protected].

 

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

 

Chamberlain, Diane, 1950–

    The silent sister / Diane Chamberlain.

          p. cm.

    ISBN 978-1-250-01071-1 (hardcover)

    ISBN 978-1-250-01072-8 (e-book)

  1.  Fathers—Death—Fiction.   2.  Sisters—Fiction.   3.  Family secrets—Fiction.   4.  Life change events—Fiction.   5.  North Carolina—Fiction.   6.  Psychological fiction.   I.  Title.

    PS3553.H2485S55 2014

    813'.54—dc23

2014021144

 

e-ISBN 9781250010728

 

First Edition: October 2014