In the Shadows

“Is it Cora? Do you love Cora?”

He stood and walked over to her, so close she couldn’t stand it,

couldn’t breathe.

“Of course I love her. Like I love you. And your mother. You

three are all I have.” His voice was calm, carefully paced and toned.

“I can’t love you like that.”

Minnie took a step back, eyes narrowed. “You can’t, or you

don’t?” The smallest twitch in expression shaped his eyes. It was a

shift that only she, who had devoted so much time to studying

him, would have caught.

“I don’t,” he whispered.

He was lying, and for some reason that hurt her more than if

the words had been the truth.

Southern Mexico

Day of the Dead Celebration

November 2, 1963

sixteen

C

ora peered down at the case now sitting on the

floor in Thomas and charles's room . It was wrong

to be doing this, prying into Arthur’s secrets. She would

have liked nothing more than to ponder her relief at discovering he

was not her half brother. But for some reason that information

made him feel even more unknowable.

She was scared, and she hated that Arthur was part of what she

was afraid of. There were too many other things to be frightened

of without adding someone she trusted to the list. He would

understand. Eventually.

So she wiped the remaining dirt of the case’s grave on her

apron and waited while Thomas fiddled with the latches.