Page 66 of Serial Burn

There was something she wasn’t saying, but she could address that at another time. “Okay. Do you mind if I go look at them?”

“Why the sudden interest in the jewelry?”

“It’s a long story. I can explain later. So, do you mind?”

A pause. “No. Of course not.”

Memories flickered at the back of her mind and she wanted answers. “Aunt Carol, I remember my parents fighting quite a bit before the fire. I don’t know how long before, but I just remember bits and pieces. Like Dad storming out of the house and slamming the door. Mom crying. When I asked her what was wrong, she just shook her head and told me not to worry about it.”

“You remember that? You couldn’t have been more than six or so.”

“I know, but yes, I remember that.”

Her aunt fell quiet, and Jesslyn wondered what she was thinking. “Oh, hon,” she finally said. “I don’t suppose it will hurt to tell you that your parents’ marriage was in a really bad place before the fire. It was getting better, but for a while there, it was bad. You must be remembering some of the bad parts.”

She didn’t know why she wasn’t more shocked. “I suspected. Do you know why?”

A pause. “Yes.”

“Will you tell me the reason?”

“It’s not pretty, Jesslyn. I know you have this picture of your family in your head. Your heart. And I’ve not wanted to do anything to ... damage that.”

“Carol ... please...”

“Do you really want to know? Because once I tell you—”

“I want to know. I ... need to know.”

Carol went silent once more. Jesslyn waited. “Okay then,” Carol said. “Your father was cheating on your mother. Had been since shortly after they were married.”

Jesslyn closed her eyes and let the words sink in. “I’m sorry. What? You mean...”

Carol’s answer was short. “Yes.”

“Whoa.” It was a good thing she was sitting down. Her heart thundered.Focus. Process later.She gulped in air and finally found her voice. “Well, that explains the fights, I guess.”

“I’m really surprised you remember so much.”

“I do. Some in detail. Some just by the tension that was there. I knew something was wrong between them. Of course, I had no idea what it could be, but now it makes more sense than they just didn’t like each other anymore.”

“I’m sorry.” Her aunt’s voice caught and she cleared her throat. “I didn’t want you to know. I wanted you to go on believing you had the perfect family.”

Jesslyn scoffed. “I never believed my family was perfect, but theyweremy family and I loved them.”

“I know, sweetie. But your dad had a lot of issues stemming from his childhood and it made living with him hard sometimes.”

“Then why encourage me to develop the youth center? Why agree to help with everything that will honor him like that?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do.” She blew out a long breath. “It’s a fairly long story. I’ll tell you later, but if you truly want to see the jewelry, then I need to go.”

“Fine. Sounds like we both have stories to share.”

“Yes. Sounds like. I can meet you at the bank and open the box for you.”

“Which bank?”

“Second National.”

---