Chapter 13 - Evelyn Returns Camille’s Wedding Gift
Months after the wedding, I found Camille’s gift in my closet.
A crystal serving bowl.
I had bought it before everything happened.
It felt ridiculous now.
I called her.
“Do you still want this?”
She laughed unexpectedly.
“Is that your way of asking whether we’re sisters?”
“No.”
“Good.”
We met for lunch.
Our relationship did not heal in one conversation.
She apologized for smiling when Dad poured the wine.
I asked why she smiled.
She took a long time.
“Because for once, he was angry at you instead of me.”
That surprised me.
Camille had been the favorite.
Favorites had pressures too.
Charles demanded charm from her.
Beauty.
Social perfection.
The right marriage.
She learned to survive by keeping his attention pointed elsewhere.
Often at me.
Understanding did not erase responsibility.
But it made our childhood more complicated.
I gave her the bowl.
She said:
“If anyone pours wine into this, I’m leaving.”
I laughed.
May you like
So did she.
It was a beginning.
