Chapter 57
My heart has dropped into my stomach. My mouth hangs open. I’m too stunned to speak.
“I’m…sorry?”
“Oh dear. I shouldn’t be so dramatic, I suppose.”
I look at her, waiting for an explanation. I’m not scared of her, but a deep pit of disappointment gnaws at me.
“When I say I killed her, I mean that identity. You see, I was Elizabeth Mary Wells, or Elizabeth Mary…Smith. A very, very long time ago.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. Jameson does the same next to me. I can sense he’s as locked in as I am. We both wait for her to continue.
“I suppose I should start at the beginning, if you care to hear the whole story?”
I nod, not bothering to look at Jameson.
But then a server comes by to take our drink order.
“Cappuccino, please,” I say quickly.
“Same,” Jameson adds. Rose already has a drink, so the server leaves in a flash.
We turn our attention back to her.
“I got married when I was a young, na?ve girl. He was a nasty man, and no one knew. I didn’t even realize how bad he was until a month into our marriage.
I think, deep down, I always knew something was off, but it wasn’t until he started drinking heavier that his demons really came out.
He would beat me, and I wouldn’t leave the house for a week.
I was young and scared. And even though he was a lowlife, a sad excuse of a man, his father had all the power in that town as the sheriff.
I feared no one would believe me, and worse, I’d be punished more. ”
She finally pauses for a breath as our server returns with our drinks, sets them on the table, and leaves after asking if we need anything else.
We shake our heads. She can tell we’re deep in conversation.
Rose—no, Elizabeth—can really talk like she’s forty when she gets going.
She barely had to take any breaths during that, and good thing, because I’m eating it up.
I fold my arms on the table, waiting for her to continue.
“That went on for months. One night was so bad, I thought he’d kill me.
He actually sort of felt bad the next morning for that one.
The brute. Brought me to a hotel for a ‘date night’ to make up for it.
” She huffs a laugh. “Little did he know, that’s the last thing I wanted.
Spending more quality time with him? No thank you.
Anyway, that’s when I met my Sonny. He saw what a drunkard my husband was at the bar, and we got to talking while my husband left me sitting alone.
Sonny was handsome, charming, kind, and even with how awful my husband was, I felt a twinge of guilt for the quick connection I made with Sonny.
But not enough to stay away. You see, we went our separate ways after that night, but I couldn’t stop thinking about him.
So, one day, when the bastard was at work, I snuck down to the hotel and found Sonny.
I think I made up some excuse for being there.
I couldn’t let him know I came just to see him. ”
She takes a sip of her tea, so I take a moment to stir a sugar packet into my cappuccino and take a sip.
“Come to find out, he’d been looking for me too.
I went back a few times to visit before we started having an affair.
Then he started to notice the bruises. He wanted to kill him.
Oh, it was a terrible night when my Sonny found out what that man had been doing.
But I talked him down. Not long after, we started planning our future.
We had already fallen in love, you see. Maybe some might think it was desperation to escape my situation, but I don’t think so.
He was so kind and caring and special. Always has been.
” She smiles sadly at us, her gaze flickering between us.
“Anyway, I couldn’t let Sonny kill him and risk going to jail.
I couldn’t fathom that reality. So we made a plan.
A plan to skip town forever and not tell a soul.
We knew the possibilities. Knew the town might blame my husband for murder, or perhaps even Sonny, if anyone ever saw us together.
But we didn’t care. That scum deserved worse.
Planning took a month. Too long if you asked Sonny, because I still had to go home to that man every night and pretend nothing was amiss.
It killed him every day. But we did it. We fell in love in Tahoe, but we could never go back. ”
She takes a sip of her drink, her eyes starting to take on a far-off look.
“We moved around a few times before settling here in Bozeman. We had to work under the table for a while, but Sonny, he could get anything done. He eventually found a way to change our identities completely. Don’t ask me how, he was always so smart and resourceful.
It was a lovely fifty-eight years. I don’t regret a thing. ”
“Wow,” I finally say, wiping a solo tear from my cheek. Jameson squeezes my hand under the table, and I sneak a quick smile at him. This is the kind of scenario I hoped for: a happy ending, two people escaping and living their happily ever after.
“That’s a beautiful story. I’m sorry to hear that he recently…”
“It’s okay, dear,” she says with a sad smile. “We got to live our happily ever after. We had a great life, and I wouldn’t change a thing.”
“Someone did see you, you know. With Sonny…”
“Did they? I never had it in me to look into it again. We left and never looked back.”
“Yes. Your old friend, Dorothy Lennox. I’ve visited with her a few times. She’s always wondered what happened to you.”
She looks sad for a moment, maybe a tiny hint of regret for how some things had to happen, but I do believe she wouldn’t change a thing.
“Dorothy,” she says with fondness. “She was my best friend. She was probably the only one who ever suspected anything was wrong. I do feel bad for letting her think the worst…”
“She wanted me to tell you…” Rose perks up and locks eyes with me. “She said if we found you, to tell you…she understands.”
Rose seems on the verge of tears and looks away.
“I think she always knew, deep down, that you were still out there somewhere. Even though she blamed your ex-husband.”
“Was she the reason you found out about all of this?”
“No, actually. I was Jameson’s realtor, showing him your…old house. We found a box of your things hiding in the attic.”
At the mention of the house, she shivers, and a dark look crosses her pale face. I could tell her that he’s long dead, but I don’t think she wants to know a thing about him or his life since.
“The box got me curious and that’s how I discovered the case. Digging into old interviews led me to her. She knew your husband was bad news, but no one wanted to listen.”
“She was always so smart.” Rose says, lost in the past. “Would you…give her my number? I think I might like to catch up. If she’s willing.”
“Sure.” I glance at Jameson, and then back at her. “So, do you want to keep this between us? I don’t think Dorothy will tell anyone, either. I think she just wanted peace of mind.”
“I’d appreciate it. No sense in dragging up the past. I’d guess reporters would be all over it. And detectives, a whole circus. I’m an old woman now…I just want peace.”
“Understood.”
We chat for a long time about her life, and she asks about ours. She’s really easy to talk to, and I love hearing about what an amazing life she and Sonny built. They didn’t have any children, but they ran a successful business and traveled the world.
Before we say our goodbyes, I recall one last thing I wanted to ask her.
“Can I ask you something? In the box, there was an old rusty key that I sort of fixated on. Does that sound familiar? Does it go to anything special?”
A smile touches her eyes. “I know the one. No. It doesn’t. I was still a young girl when all this happened, you know? I found the key when I was in one of my darkest moments, and I liked to pretend it led to somewhere magical. That one day, it might whisk me away.”
The revelation should be tragic, but it makes me smile. Because she did escape.