Pepper, the Highlander & the Dead Guy

That was the second reference today about me looking like my aunt. I loved my Aunt Effie. She was the most glamorous woman in the world to me. Men would stare at her. Some would have the courage to approach her. I would watch in awe how she gently let them down and the men who were more brash she would quickly put in their place. Men never looked at me that way, but then I never dressed as elegantly and stylishly as my aunt or applied make up with perfection. I remember her telling me that I should only wear a light touch of makeup. That I had a natural beauty, and I shouldn’t hide it.

Be who you are always, she had told me. And make no excuses for it.

I like to think I’ve done just that and had no plans to do it differently.

I went to the attic after supper and after talking with Ian who would be busy the rest of the evening. Once again, the attic overwhelmed me. It would take a lot to clean it out and I intended to ask my mom and Amy for help with it. My aunt’s life was contained here, in boxes and wardrobes as were memories and I didn’t want to lose any of those memories.

I opened the antique armoire and carefully sifted through the garment bags until I found the coat my mom had mentioned. I didn’t remove it from the protective bag as I dug in the one pocket and was happy to find the black gloves. I was about to zipper the garment bag when I recalled something my aunt told me.

I always have pockets sewn on the inside of my coats to hide my secrets there.

Did this coat contain secrets? The thought delighted me, and I reached inside the coat and found a pocket. I slipped my hand in and sure enough something was there. I scooped it up excited to discover my aunt’s secret.

I stared at the item in my hand. It was a diamond cufflink, a match to the one that belonged to Ian’s uncle.

It struck me then. Was it possible? Had it been there the whole time, but I didn’t see it. Vera’s remark earlier today added to the sudden realization.

You’re just like your Aunt Euphemia. Shameful. Just Shameful.

Could Max Macgregor be the man my Aunt Effie loved but could never have in this life?

28

I stood on a small stool while my mom worked on pinning the hem of the black dress the next morning. I didn’t waste any time I got right to the point explaining to my mom what I had found in Aunt Effie’s coat and how it related to what Ian and I had found in his uncle’s belongings.

I carefully suggested, “Could Max be the man Aunt Effie loved but never got to have?”

My mom jabbed a pin in the pincushion at her wrist. “I knew someone would find out someday.”

“You know that Max was the man Aunt Effie loved?” I asked shocked, though I shouldn’t have been. My mom wasn’t one to gossip.

“I never felt it was for me to say or reveal to anyone, not even to your dad. But lately with all that’s been going on, I was thinking that maybe I should, in the very least, confide in you what I knew. Not that it’s much. It’s mostly what I saw.”

Curiosity jabbed at me. “What did you see?”

“I’ve carried this burden around for some time, never told anyone, kept it a secret just like they did, though you know how I feel about secrets. They cause more problems than they’re worth. I was barely twelve years old when it happened,” —she shook her head— “when I saw Max Macgregor and Aunt Effie kissing and not merely a friendly kiss.”

I was dumbfounded. I thought my mom might have had some information that would have supported my assumption but seeing Max and Aunt Effie kissing absolutely confirmed they had been involved to some degree.

“It was a breath-robbing passionate kiss. It was the year your aunt turned fifty. She was more beautiful than ever, and Max grew more handsome with age. I believe he was around fifty-five then. I was in the woods, where I spent a good portion of my time at that age and came upon them by accident. I didn’t feel it was right watching, though it had been hard not to with the way they kissed, the way he held her, and how she held him. My thought was that neither of them wanted to let go of the other.”

“Did they say anything after they kissed?” I asked.

“Pepper Euphemia Madison, how can you ask such a question of me?” my mom shook her head. “I forget you are your father’s daughter. It’s unthinkable to question that I would spy on my aunt.”