The Heart of Deception

Chapter 27

Helen was dozing on a papasan in the rumpus, with Jessica sprawled across her chest, when Kurt arrived home from the hospital.

“I didn’t hear the Land Rover pull in,” she said quietly. “How did you get here?”

“John dropped me off.”

Kurt sat on the edge of the coffee table, looking down at his sleeping daughter. His face was pale.

“They gave me some drugs to set this,” he mumbled, waving a plaster cast in her direction. “I’m not fit for anything much at the moment.”

“Hungry?”

Kurt nodded. Through his weariness, he realised he’d eaten nothing since breakfast. Even so, he was still tossing up which was closer - the kitchen, or his bed.

“I’ve left a salad in the fridge for you, and the table is set,” said Helen, slowly lifting herself out of the deep cushions. “I’ll see to Jessica, while you sort yourself out. You’ll sleep better with some food into your stomach.”

He knew better than to argue with his sister and made his way to the kitchen. By the time she joined him, he’d just about finished eating.

“It’s a good thing you’re ambidextrous,” smiled Helen, as she watched him deftly scooping the last few forkfuls of food with his left hand. “It doesn’t really matter which one you break does it?”

“Smart arse!”

“I gather you’re feeling a little better then,” she grinned, pulling a cream coloured envelope from her jeans' pocket, and dumping it on the table in front of him. “In that case, you can read this now. I was going to give it to you earlier, but you became otherwise involved.”

The neatly opened letter had British postmarks. It was addressed to his late wife, from “Miss Lauren McAllister.” Kurt felt his heart jump into his mouth. Slowly, he extracted the letter, and unfolded it. Diane’s bold handwriting bounced off the pages at him. Anger welled up inside him the more he read. By the end of the letter, he looked as if he were about to explode.

“That calculating bitch!” he exclaimed, as his good fist thumped the tabletop. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me before?”

“Kurt, you’ve refused point blank to talk about Lauren or Diane. Every time I tried to bring up the subject, you just walked out.”

“Well, why have you waited until now to show me this then?”

“I only just found it this morning,” Helen retorted hotly. “I’ve turned this place over several times looking for it. I thought Lauren must have destroyed it. She was really torn up when she got it.”

“So where was it?”

“In her underwear drawer at home.” Helen blushed, and wriggled uncomfortably. “I didn’t have any clean clothes with me yesterday. I wasn’t planning on staying overnight. Anyhow, I knew she wouldn’t mind me borrowing some of her things. That’s when I found it...”

Their eyes met across the table - hers uncertain, and his still angry and confused. Taking a deep breath, Kurt covered his sister’s hand with his.

“Okay, so tell me about it now then.”

Helen began by reminding him of her suspicions on the day Lauren had first arrived. It was an hour later, when she had finished her tale, Kurt having said little throughout the whole saga.

“I don’t understand,” he muttered, running his fingers through his hair. “Why did she do it?”

“Love,” said Helen simply. “She cared about her sister.”