“Dot.”
Gus was on the ground now, reaching for her. He had taken care of both sisters for as long as they had known him, and they trusted him with their lives. She had always followed him without a second thought. But this, this was the most difficult moment she had ever faced. She needed one more minute.
From the corner of her eye, she caught movement in the room. She ducked out of sight, but in that second she saw who was with her father, and she understood why she had needed that extra time. Dash’s face glowed above the candle she carried then placed it on the bedside table. Then she sank onto the chair beside him, her back to Dot.
Dash was there. Dash was with him. Now Dot could go. It would be all right.
She moved slowly, testing every branch before putting her weight on it. Climbing up had felt easy; this was harder. On the last step, Gus clasped his hands around her waist to help her down. Once on solid ground, she looked up at him, still in disbelief.
“I will never forget what you did for me tonight.”
She wrapped her arms around him so that his head rested on hers.When his hold loosened, she stretched onto her toes and gave him a peck on the cheek. The light stubble brushing her lips was unfamiliar, and unexpectedly enticing. His eyes were closed, his lashes impossibly long. Something low in her belly tightened. On impulse, she kissed him again, this time on his lips.
He pulled away, startled, his eyes reading hers. Then he bent down and kissed her back the same way.
She moved back. What on earth had she just done? “I’m sorry,” she blustered. “I—I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“It’s all right, Dot. I’ve wanted to kiss you for a long time.”
He was teasing, and she thought that cruel. Then again, after what she’d just done, maybe she deserved it. All along, he’d laughed at Dash’s jokes, followed her lead, and taken her dancing on those nights Dot chose to stay home. Dash was the beauty between the two of them, and there had never been a question about Gus being a man who drew every girl’s eye. Dot had always imagined the two of them together, though she’d never said anything.
Her lips tingled from the warmth of his. “That’s not true.”
He chuckled. “That’s not something I’d lie about.”
“Well, even if it is true, I couldn’t do that to Dash. I have already hurt her enough.”
He frowned. “What does this have to do with Dash?”
This.What was “this”? She retreated another step. “You and she…”
A sheepish smile rose to his mouth. “Your dad’s right. I’m a lousy liar, and he guessed my secret. As great as you are with puzzles, you’re terrible at seeing what’s right in front of you. Of course I love Dash.” His smile faded. “But it’s always been you, Dot.”
thirty-eightDASH— Oshawa, Ontario —
After a week in her parents’ home, it had become obvious to Dash and everyone else that her father was fading fast. He barely spoke anymore, and when he did, the words often made no sense. The tumour was causing hallucinations, and it frightened Dash to see him tortured this way. From the slits of his eyes, she sensed how much pain he was in. She wanted that to end, but she never wanted him to go.
Thank goodness for Aunt Lou, who had singlehandedly taken over caring for everyone in the house. Perhaps that was how she eased her grief, Dash thought, accepting yet another casserole from her aunt. Now she sat with her in the kitchen while Uncle Bob spoke with his brother. At Dash’s insistence, her mother was napping upstairs. She would need strength to deal with everything once it was all over. There was no longer a question that that moment would come soon. Dash had been here only a short while and she already felt wrung out like a dishrag, physically, mentally, and emotionally.
And Dot, well, Dot had broken her heart in a whole different way. Just the other day, her mother had received a letter from her. As far as Dash could see, it was one giant, unacceptable excuse.
I’m so sorry, Mom. It’s a really important report. They tell me it will be shared between Prime Minister King and Churchill himself. I know you are in an impossible place, and it’s a lot for me to ask, but I beg you to understand. This is not my choice. I am not allowed to go. I would be with you all if I could. Please tell Dash I’m sorry. And please tell Dad I love him…
Dash had crumpled the letter into a ball and dropped it in the trash. How could she do this to the family? To Dash? Even to herself? If it had been her, Dash would have stormed out of the office with a nice loud “I quit!,” and that would have been the end of it.
After that, there were no more letters from Dot. Her sister had said she would not be there, and she was not.
She was not there when their father took his last breath.
She was not there to hold her weeping mother after he was gone.
She was not there to arrange the funeral and help her mother find a black dress to wear.
Dash was there for all of it.
On the morning of the funeral, Dash sat by her bedroom window, remembering. Her father had been a quiet man. She’d have called him solitary, if not for their family, and she knew he was more content away from people’s scrutiny. She couldn’t help comparing the way he had lived to his job in the last war, out of sight within the fragile belly of a surveillance plane.
And yet, when they arrived at the church for the funeral service, it was full. By coincidence, it had been scheduled on the same day as the town’s big party, celebrating the 500,000th military vehicle built in General Motors’ plant. She’d assumed most people would be at the celebration along with the reporters, but every pew was filled. Manyin attendance were strangers to Dash; some were people she vaguely recalled from her past. A few were the girls’ schoolteachers. She assumed they had come to see what the twins were up to. When the service was over, Dash approached Mr. Martin, her former mathematics teacher, now much rounder in the middle than she remembered. He greeted her sympathetically.
