Chapter 10
10
T he front door opened, and Carley called out, "Margo, I'm here."
Margo stopped tossing Logan's clothing in boxes and stepped from the bedroom to greet her sister. She hurried down the hallway, and Carley appeared around the corner and rushed into her arms. The instant her sister hugged her, Margo burst into tears. Carley's arms tightened around her, and that made her cry all the more. They held each other for a while, heart to heart, until Margo's tears finally subsided.
When she pulled away, she swiped at her cheeks with her fingers and looked around for a tissue. Pulling one from the box, she dabbed at her face. Carley did the same.
Carley took her hand and led her to the sofa. They sat side-by-side, cleaning up their tears. Carley finally said, "That's the first time you've cried, Margo."
"No, it isn't."
Carley's smile was small. Almost a frown, actually. "When did you cry? When Logan took his last breath, you stood there numb. The only time tears came to your eyes was when we were all here in the kitchen laughing, and you said the laughter made you cry because it had been so long since this place sounded happy."
Margo's head tilted to the side as she rethought all the moments since Logan entered the hospital. "I hadn't realized."
"That comment stuck with me since then." Carley shifted and turned toward her so that they were facing each other. "Margo, aside from what you know about Logan's indiscretions, had you been happy before he died? You said this place hadn't seemed happy in a long time. Why?"
Margo swallowed. It felt like her body deflated and her shoulders sank. "I don't know why I said that."
Carley took her hands and held them in hers. "Tell me the last time you and Logan laughed. Really laughed."
Margo swallowed the large knot that formed in her throat. She took a deep breath, but nothing came to her. Her eyes watered again, and she blinked furiously to stem the flow. Staring into her sister’s pretty blue eyes, she swallowed again. "I can't recall." She sniffed. "That's even sadder than Logan passing. It has been a very long time since he and I sat here and had a good conversation."
"I wondered. You used to enjoy an evening drink out on the deck. When was the last time the two of you did that?"
Margo took a deep breath. So deep her lungs burned. She let it out slowly. She nodded her head slowly. "It's all making sense now, isn't it?"
"Well, you didn't go out and have an affair. But it does seem that you two grew apart and were living separate lives."
"All my life consisted of was working."
Carley frowned. "Well, now you can make a change in that regard."
Margo snorted. "I guess."
Carley squeezed her hands. "What were you doing back there?"
"Tossing his shit in boxes."
"Want help?"
"Sure. Want a glass of wine to go with it?"
"I'll never turn down a good glass of wine."
Margo stood and pulled Carley's hand, so her sister stood, too. They moved together, hand-in-hand to the kitchen. Margo pulled a bottle of wine from the wine fridge, while Carley pulled two wine glasses off the hanging rack above the far counter. She opened the bottle. They both giggled when the cork offered a little 'pop'. She poured them each a generous glass of wine and Carley held hers out. "I propose a toast to a new life. One filled with love and laughter and fun."
They clinked their glasses together and took a drink. Margo nodded. "Okay, let's get that bastard's clothes out of my house."
They strode to the bedroom where a stack of unopened boxes lay on the bed and several opened and taped boxes stood on the floor.
"Are you organizing the clothes in any certain way?"
Margo grabbed a handful of clothes from the closet, hangars and all. "Yes." She turned and dropped the clothes into a box, shoved the parts that didn't drop into the box inside, and stood proudly to look at her sister’s smiling face. "Just like that."
Carley clapped her hands. "Yes! I love it."
They both grabbed armloads of clothes and shoved them into boxes. As they needed a new box, one of them would open a new one and tape the bottom.
As soon as Logan's clothing was packed, Margo grabbed her glass of wine and a box. "On to his bathroom shit."
Carley followed her, laughing, but she carried what was left of the bottle of wine. It didn't take them long to clean out Logan's shaving cream, aftershave, and some of his medicines. He had bottles and bottles of antacids. Margo tossed in three bottles of them and clapped her hands together. "Looks like his stomach was bothering him. Hope it hurt."
Carley stopped what she was doing and stared at her. Margo shrugged. "He was probably having stress-induced acid reflux. Guess lying is more hazardous to your health than we thought."
Carley stared a bit longer, then a smile crawled across her face. She burst out laughing, and Margo joined her. And it felt good.
They finished off that bottle, then opened another one. Carley called the local thrift store to see if they could send someone over in the morning to pick up all these boxes. They said they'd have someone there at eight.
Their last stop was the basement, where they started tossing Logan's lures and bobbers into boxes. Then Margo said, "I'm sick of doing this. I'm calling a couple of his customers that he worked with a lot..." She pulled Logan's phone from her back pocket and tapped it a couple of times. "Yes, here he is. Nathan."
She tapped his name, and the phone began to ring. "Hello?" His voice sounded suspicious, and Margo chuckled. "Hi, Nathan, it's Margo. I suppose I gave you a start when I called you on Logan's phone. I'm sorry for that."
"Oh, well, yes a start is a good way to put it. How can I help you?"
"I'm getting rid of all of his lure and bobber-making stuff. Would you like it?"
"What? You mean you're selling it?"
"Nope. You can have it. But you have to take all of it."
"Oh...well...I'm...wow. I'd love it. But it must be worth so much..."
"It isn't worth anything to me. Actually, I’d like to get it out of the house, actually. If you want it, I'd ask that you come by tomorrow and pick it up. I have boxes here."
"Oh. Um. I don't know what to say. Yes, I'll bring my son to help me. Does ten work for you?"
"Ten will be perfect. I'll see you then."
She hung up the phone and took another sip of wine. Carley smiled. "What else can we get rid of?"
Margo burst out laughing and replied. "How about another bottle of wine?"