Clandestine: A Story of Three Sisters

Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen- Getting By

Now it was imperative for Jed to end things with Madison. With Charlotte expecting a child, things had to change so he would be there for her.

When she had admitted to him that she had been in a relationship with William Atticus, Jed had actually not been that shocked. Some things seemed to make sense now, actually. For example, why Charlotte seemed to hate him so much when they first met. Charlotte was the one who was more shocked; she was stunned he wasn't angry with her.

"But what if it is Will's...?" Charlotte had asked when Jed hadn't said anything after her confession.

"You don't know for sure," Jed had replied. "And even if it is, the child will need a father. And everyone will assume I am the father, anyway."

"You'd raise someone else's child?" Charlotte asked slowly.

"I believe if I'm the one raising it, it will be mine. Right?" Charlotte could only nod in response, her eyebrows raising even more in shock and wonder.

Charlotte's confession had also cleared another thing up. Now he knew Atticus had been threatening him about Charlotte, and not Abby. But this raised the question: if Atticus hadn't been interested in Abby at all, was he really innocent?

Jed hated to think he had aided in the hanging of an innocent man. He tried to justify himself by coming up with some excuse as to how Atticus still could've been the murderer. Maybe he had meant to kill Jed for trying to marry Charlotte, and Abby had gotten in the way. It was weak, but it could make sense.

***

Jed waited for Madison to come down to the basement the way she always did, a tea tray in her hands. She placed the tray down and then threw her arms around Jed, holding him in a tight embrace. When he didn't reciprocate her hug, she stepped back a little and looked up into his face, confused.

"Is something wrong?" Madison asked, letting go of him and creating a space between them.

Jed swallowed forcefully. He had to be delicate about this. "As you know, Charlotte is with child. This means I have to be there for her, take care of her, and all."

"Yes, I know." Madison nodded. "I have to, as well."

"Well, now, it wouldn't be right of us to take care of Charlotte and carry on as we were, would it?" Jed asked, trying to be convincing and sympathetic at the same time. "It would be inappropriate, more so than it already was, and we would feel even more guilty than we already do."

"I understand," Madison replied, her eyes downcast. Jed was about to continue, but he hadn't expected her to understand so quickly. He didn't know what to do now, so he just waited for her to speak again. "This isn't the time for us to be together. We've neglected Charlotte enough as it is, and now we have to think of her first."

Jed was surprised at how easy it had been. All he could do was nod and give a tight smile. "I'm glad we understand each other."

"Yes, we do." Madison smiled sweetly up at him. There may have been tears in the corners of her eyes, but she didn't seem very sad. "I'll just leave, then." And she went back up the stairs as easily as she'd glided down.

Jed took a few deep breaths and told himself things were running smoothly. He nodded to himself, and then noticed Madison had left the tray of tea. He picked it up and decided to go visit Charlotte, who was in bed resting.

He entered the bedroom quietly, but Charlotte was awake and turned to watch him as he closed the door behind him and made his way to the bed. He placed the tray onto the bedside table, and then went to bring the rocking chair closer to the bed. He sat down and started making the two cups of tea, Charlotte watching him intently throughout it all.