The Sound of Secrets. Irene Brand

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СКАЧАТЬ room that hadn’t changed much in appearance since Rissa could remember.

      Her sisters and Aunt Winnie sat on the twin settees grouped around a large coffee table.

      “What’s happened?” she repeated when the door closed behind them.

      Winnie motioned for Rissa to sit beside her.

      “I’ve been sitting all night,” Rissa said, leaning against the closed door. “I’ll stand for a while. Don’t keep me in suspense—what’s wrong?”

      “There was a terrible scene in the gazebo last night,” Miranda said.

      “Terrible? What do you mean? Has someone else been killed?” Rissa demanded, irritated that they seemed to be beating around the bush.

      “I don’t think so,” Portia answered. “We couldn’t see in the dark, but I checked as soon as daylight came. There wasn’t a body in the gazebo. The woman must have gotten away.”

      “It happened about midnight,” Winnie said. “Ronald was in the gazebo with a woman. He shouted at the top of his lungs and woke the entire household. There must have been a terrible argument. I don’t suppose anybody slept after that.”

      “Another woman? What’s happened to Alannah, his latest flame?”

      With a disgusted sniff, Miranda said, “Oh, she’s still around, unfortunately. This definitely wasn’t a romantic tryst.”

      “That’s right. He threatened the woman’s life if she shows up here again,” Portia said. “Father didn’t come upstairs after that, but spent the night in his office.”

      A disturbing thought popped into Rissa’s head and fearful images built in her mind. “But he is all right, isn’t he?” she asked hesitantly.

      “I’ve listened at the keyhole a few times,” Miranda answered. “He’s muttering and pacing the floor like a madman, and it sounds like he’s kicking the furniture when it’s in his way.”

      Was her father deranged, too? Her mother had experienced serious postpartum depression. Now that Rissa’s psychiatrist had prescribed an antidepressant for her, Rissa feared that she had inherited her mother’s instability.

      What if her father’s mind was also unbalanced? Dr. Pearson, her psychiatrist, had assured Rissa that she had only a mild case of clinical depression and had prescribed a low dose of antidepressants to combat her symptoms. But recalling some of Ronald’s temper displays, and his uncaring attitude toward his six daughters, she wondered if her condition was worse than the psychiatrist had diagnosed. And her grandfather, Howard, had Alzheimer’s. What chance did she have against such odds? Would she eventually lose her mind?

      Rissa had chosen a Christian psychiatrist, one who counseled her patients with Biblical teachings along with traditional treatment. During the therapy sessions, Rissa often felt as if she were a child again in her Sunday school class at Unity Christian Church. Upon Dr. Pearson’s advice, Rissa had memorized a few Bible verses that she called to mind anytime she became depressed. The doctor had insisted that a daily dose of Scripture would be an added benefit to her medication.

      Rissa suddenly realized that her aunt had spoken to her twice and that her sisters were staring at her in concern. She forced a slight laugh.

      “Sorry! I’ve had a long night. What did you say?”

      “We waited to have breakfast with you,” Aunt Winnie said. “Are you ready to eat?”

      “Sure. Give me a minute to run upstairs and freshen up.”

      “I’ll bring your luggage,” Portia said.

      “Put it in our bedroom. I’ll wash my hands and face and then join everyone in the dining room.”

      During breakfast Rissa forced an upbeat manner as she chatted with her aunt and sisters, answering their questions about the success of Memories of the Past.

      “We saw a glowing review in the local paper,” Miranda said. “‘Hometown Girl Makes a Splash in the Big Apple.’ If an article makes it into our paper, you can be assured that the news has spread nationwide.”

      “I am pleased with public reception to my play,” Rissa said, smothering a yawn. “My agent encouraged me to start working on another one right away, so I’ve been busy writing a new one.”

      “Now that Portia will be moving back to Stoneley, won’t you be lonesome in the big city?” Aunt Winnie asked. “Why don’t you come home? Seems to me you could write as well here as in New York.”

      “I could never be lonely in New York. It is my home now,” Rissa said. “Coming to Stoneley seems like the end of the world. I can’t imagine anything that would entice me to live here again.”

      “It isn’t a good thing to forget your roots,” Miranda scolded, and Rissa knew she had sounded a little supercilious. She didn’t mean to be that way and decided she would have to work on her attitude. But her relatives who had never lived in the city couldn’t understand how life on the fast track had changed her priorities.

      Missing her youngest sister, Rissa asked, “Has Juliet already gone to work this morning?”

      “She’s in Florida on a business trip and will be gone for a week or two,” Winnie explained.

      “Tough luck,” Rissa said, with a humorous uplift of her carefully tweaked brows. “Having to leave Maine for a trip to Florida this time of year must have been a real sacrifice.”

      “Well, it was in a way,” Portia said. “She didn’t want to leave her boyfriend behind.”

      Rissa had been introduced to Brandon De Witte, whom Juliet had met recently. It must have been love at first sight because the romance seemed to be moving forward rapidly.

      After breakfast Rissa took a shower, went to bed and slept until noon. When she was awakened by a knock on the door by her aunt, who announced that lunch was ready, she dressed hurriedly in black silk pants and a hot-pink long-sleeved blouse. A pair of metallic leather flat shoes completed her outfit. She brushed her hair over her shoulders and went downstairs to the news that her father had finally come out of his office, gone to his bedroom, dressed and left for his job as the steel-hearted CEO of Blanchard Fabrics. The women ate lunch alone.

      “Do you suppose I can see Grandfather this afternoon?” Rissa asked as they finished the light lunch of crab soup, raw vegetables and cherry torte.

      “According to Peg, he isn’t having a good day,” Miranda said. “She said she would let you know when he’s lucid.”

      “I don’t know what we would do without Peg,” Rissa said of the sweet-natured nurse who took care of their grandfather round the clock. “Does she ever take a day off?”

      “I could count on one hand the time she’s been away from the house during the past five years,” Winnie said. “But it’s her fault—we’ve tried to get her to take more time off. She says she doesn’t know what else she would do.”

      “She doesn’t have any family in this area at all,” Miranda said. “She specializes in long-term care and lives in the homes of the families she helps. She apparently doesn’t СКАЧАТЬ