This ce was a bit out of the way, and although Gwh had been to the small grocery store nearby, she''d never seen seafood thisrge before. She couldn''t help but feel a little curious.
"Mrs. Langley, where did you get this seafood?" she asked as she eyed the steaming dish on the table.
"Oh, a distant cousin brought it overst week," Mrs. Langley replied with a practiced ease. "I''ve been saving it in the freezer, never quite able to bring myself to use it. But when I saw how unwell you were afterst night, I thought a warm seafood stew might help."
Mrs. Langley handled these things with such familiarity that Gwh didn''t think twice about it.
The pot of seafood stew was emptied in no time, leaving Gwh wishing for just one more spoonful.
As Mrs. Langley tidied up, she picked up a crumpled piece of paper from the floor -the same one Hawthorne had seen earlier, with the word "divorce" scrawled across it.
"Did you have a fight with your husband?" Mrs. Langley asked gently.
So, she''s the wife, not the mistress, Mrs. Langley realized. Just a young couple having a quarrel.
Gwh blushed and quickly took the paper from herndy''s hand. "No, nothing like that. I was just scribbling."
She tossed the paper into the coal stove, watching it curl and burn to ash. Mrs. Langley smiled but didn''t press further. She changed Gwh''s bedding for fresh linens and took out the trash before leaving her guest in peace.
Not disturbing the tenants was an unspoken rule amongndlords. Mrs. Langley had epted Hawthorne''s money, gone a little above and beyond, and then busied herself elsewhere.
Gwh pushed open the window. The rain was still falling in a steady, misty drizzle, but after the stew, she felt more invigorated than she had in days.
For several days, Mrs. Langley prepared her nourishing seafood stew. At first, Gwh hadn''t thought much of it, but the more often it happened, the stranger it seemed.
Those oversized, expensive pieces of seafood-were they really a gift from a distant cousin? If Mrs. Langley couldn''t bear to eat them herself, why was she so generous with Gwh?
By the fourth time Mrs. Langley brought her another steaming bowl, Gwh finally couldn''t stand it any longer.
"Did someone ask you to do this?" she blurted.
Mrs. Langley looked startled. She''d taken the money-what if Gwh demanded it back? After all, that word "divorce
suggested Gwh and Hawthorne were husband and wife, not just lovers or employer and employee. s
"It wasn''t her. It was me."
Before Mrs. Langley could stammer out an answer, Leonie appeared in the doorway.
Relieved, Mrs. Langley made herself scarce, as if she''d just been thrown a lifeline.
Leonie had been searching for Gwh for days with no luck. Eventually, on her uncle''s instructions, she came to keep an eye on Gwh, worried she might not be safe alone.
Gwh was momentarily stunned, especially when she saw the tears shining in Leonie''s eyes. She felt her own eyes sting in response.
"Aunt Gwh, how did you end up here?" Leonie''s voice wavered. "What happened between you and Uncle? He can''t eat, can''t sleep, he''s lost so much weight."
She hadn''t dared to ask her uncle directly what had happened, but she had a feeling it had something to do with that day at the gallery.
"I just needed some time to clear my head. It''s nothing serious," Gwh replied softly.
She knew that if she contacted Leonie, Hawthorne would find her in no time. That''s why she''d forced herself to ignore every text, every call from Leonie.
"If it''s nothing, then why won''t you answer me?" Leonie''s voice cracked. "You''re just afraid my uncle will find you aren''t you? But even if that''s true, you can''t just ignore me Don''t you care about me anymore?"
s
After all, she''d known Gwh longer than her uncle had. Was Gwh really
nning to cut her out forever?<fnd3ff> Chapters first released on Find~Novel</fnd3ff>
Leonie had been worried sick at
home. Mrs. Everhart and Mr.
Everhart had also noticed that Gwh hadn''t visited in ages, and could only guess that somethinga, had gone wrong between Hawthorne and Gwh. s