Page 123 of The Me I Left Behind

She pulled open another drawer.

“We also need glasses.” Julia joined her.

“Okay.” She moved some things around in the messy junk drawer. “I can’t find the damn corkscrew.” Then her hand pushed aside a stack of plain postcards, held together with a rubber band. Immediately, something gripped her heart, and her breath caught. “Shit. I remember now.”

“I bet the corkscrew is still in Max’s office. Oh, I mean your studio.”

Maggie slowly lifted the cards and removed the rubber band.

“Maggie? Did you hear me?”

“Sure. Yeah. Studio.”

Julia stepped closer. “I’ll get it. What are you doing?”

She shuffled through the cards. There were over twenty of them. All with the same message. All dated and postmarked June 18.

Maggie looked at Julia. “I’d almost forgotten about these.”

“What are they?”

“Postcards. They come addressed to me every year. On June 18. The day Caroline died.”

Julia held her gaze for several seconds, then read the top card. “Be careful.That’s all it says.”

“That’s what they all say.”

“But who…?”

“I don’t know. I never knew. I just stuck them in the drawer here. I never even told Max.”

Julia sat. “Shit, Mags. Someone has been sending you a warning.”

“To be careful I don’t end up like Caroline?” Suddenly, she didn’t want to dwell on that any longer. She took the cards from Julia. “Let it be. We will say nothing about this right now.” She peered into Julia’s eyes. “You hear me? Not a word. We’ll talk about it another time.”

Julia was reluctant, Maggie could tell, but she agreed. “Fine.”

Maggie nudged her elbow. “For now, we have breakfast to eat. Mimosas to drink.”

“Right.” Julia jerked a nod. “Take the glasses. I’ll get the corkscrew.”

With no further discussion, they retrieved the items and headed back to the deck. Alice played bartender, making mimosas. Maggie sat back and absorbed the banter and cheerful faces.

Nothing is going to ruin this day for me, or for anyone else.

After a while, Lia set her plate aside. “I have something to say, if it’s okay with everyone.”

Maggie shrugged. “Sure. Everything alright?”

She smiled. “Yes. I just wanted to say how proud I am of all of you. Carol, congrats on graduation and going to ECU in the fall. You know we all love that place, so it’s great you are going, too.”

“And,” Alice added. “You’ll get to see my Ella there this fall.”

Carol nodded. “Right.”

Lia continued, “You worked hard, and I’m sure it wasn’t easy these past few months. And Jason? You are such a good brother to your sisters and a big help to your mom. I’m proud of you, too.”

Jason smiled and looked a little embarrassed.

---