When Love's Sorrow Plays Again novel · Chapter 10 of 24

Chapter 10: The Envelope

Julius lay very still for a long time after I told him.

I thought he might get up and dress.

I thought he might say the cold, reasonable thing, that he understood, that he needed air.

Instead he rolled onto his side and put his forehead against mine.

"It was my money," he said.

"It was your brother's trick."

"It was my money, Leona. If I'd known, I would have put it in your hand myself. I'd have put every cent I had."

My eyes stung.

"That's not the point."

"It's exactly the point. You took what you needed to bring her into the world. That isn't shame. That's the one thing in this whole mess I'm proud of."

I started to cry, quietly, into his shoulder.

He held me until it stopped.

At eight the next morning, I was in a robe, making scrambled eggs, when the front door banged open.

"Mommy!"

Ellery ran down the hall in her pajamas with her violin case bumping behind her.

Agatha followed, slower.

Her yellow coat hung open, and her face was blotched.

She stopped dead in the kitchen doorway.

Julius sat at my table in last night's sweater, with a cup of coffee in front of him and a piece of toast.

"Oh," said Agatha. "Well. That's, hello."

"Good morning," said Julius.

"Good morning. Ellery, honey, go put on your school clothes."

"Why are you crying?"

"I'm not crying, I have allergies."

"You don't have allergies."

"Go."

Ellery went, looking over her shoulder.

When her door shut, Agatha sat down hard on the chair by the stove and covered her face.

"Agatha?"

"I did it," she said, into her hands. "Oh my God, Leona. I did it."

"Did what?"

"I've been thinking about it since the audition. I couldn't sleep. I kept seeing his envelope."

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