by Rachel Renee
“She was expecting,” he adds, as if it’s not a huge accusation. “More than one Astor died that night.”
“Oh my goodness. That makes it even worse!”
“Now you see why the two families don’t get along.”
“It doesn’t sound intentional. He was so distraught he took his own life. Wasn’t that enough?”
“Apparently it wasn’t.”
I place the last of the man’s purchases into the paper bag. “I just can’t believe that it’s still going on. I mean, I’m the last of the Duponts. I’m not sure how many Astors are out there, but I haven’t met any in town.”
He doesn’t even let me finish my thought. “Oh, but you have.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think I’ve said too much already.”
“Please tell me,” I practically beg the man, grabbing ahold of his jacket sleeve and holding him back from taking his bag and leaving.
“Not today. Why don’t you talk to Tucker? Ask him if he knows anyone.”
“He would have…” I let go of Mr. Franklin, my mouth gaping open and staring out the front window. Would he have told me? Would he have mentioned it if he was an Astor? He would have said if we were related in some way. Wouldn’t he?
“Is Tucker an Astor?”
Mr. Franklin nods before walking away with his groceries. The moment those words left my mouth, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before. His last name isn’t Astor, but that doesn’t mean he’s not related to them, me, in some way. I’m not sure if it’s anger or frustration I’m feeling in this moment. I can understand why he wouldn’t want me to know, I mean, at least in the beginning. But…but I thought we were building a life together. Shouldn’t I know something like that?
The remainder of my day goes by in a blur. I had lots of customers stop and chat but I don’t recall one conversation, other than the one that knocked my entire day off kilter. Tucker and Rusty come by to get me at the end of my shift, one with happiness showing all over his face and the other tail swaying quickly back and forth as I step into the car.
“How’s our favorite lady?”
I slam the truck door and when I don’t respond immediately, both take quick note that something is wrong. Rusty nudges me with his nose and I place my hand on his head, which appeases him. Tucker stares in my direction. “Did you have a bad day? Did something happen?”
No use waiting until later to bring it up. “Are you an Astor?”
Something audible comes from his mouth but it isn’t words. His face falls, his tongue darting out to lick his lips before he pulls them in. His head turns toward the road, his hand reaching up and putting the truck in drive. I don’t really need his words to confirm but an explanation would certainly be nice and will definitely be expected before our relationship can continue.
We sit in silence the entire drive home, Rusty eventually settling his head into my lap, his body wrapped in a ball between Tucker and I. “Distantly,” he finally answers just as I’m about to jump out of the truck now parked in front of my home.
“Distantly. What does that mean?” I turn to him, looking for his explanation.
“My aunt and uncle are Astors. My father’s sister married into the family.”
“That doesn’t make you an Astor. Just related to the family.”
“It does when you’re from a small town. I have cousins who are Astors. To them, that makes me part of that equation.”
This is much less complicated than I thought it would be. I planned on it being a bigger deal, even had different ways I thought I would respond. “I’m not from here. It doesn’t mean anything to me.”
“You are from here. Your history is within this town. Our futures are intertwined whether you want them to be or not.”
“That’s just the thing. I want them to be linked and I don’t care who your relatives are.”
“The people of this town will. Nothing good has ever come from an Astor and Dupont combination.”
“I am. I did,” I answer him. “I came from the marriage of an Astor and Dupont.”
The comment shook both of us. It came out of me instinctively and before today, it doesn’t seem as if it ever crossed Tucker’s thoughts. He seems to not know what to say and I don’t know what to add. We sit for a few minutes. Everything in the world seemingly stops as we ponder what to do next. Rusty whimpers to get out, waking us from our trance.
“I can move forward if you can,” I whisper before opening the door and hopping out of the vehicle. I don’t wait for Tucker. Besides, it’s him who has a problem with it. The only issue I have is the fact that he kept it from me, but now that the secret is out, he didn’t deny it, I can move on. I care about Tucker, growing to possibly love the man, so I’d be willing to do whatever it takes to get us through it.
I stand on the porch, turning to look back at the truck. I see Tucker’s head leaning on the steering wheel, his hands gripping the metal. He kept the knowledge from me more to benefit himself than to hold something back that would hurt me. I want to go to him and remind him that we’re us and this old feud doesn’t involve our relationship in any way. Apparently, it does to him, so I stand here and stare. I don’t move when his head rises. His eyes peer over in my direction before his right hand moves lower slightly and puts the truck in drive.
This is the first night since I became a resident that Tucker hasn’t been here to eat dinner with me. To sit and watch the birds fly in and out of the trees, their music the harmony of the evening. Even with my trusty friend by my side, I feel a bit lonely and I haven’t felt that way in months.
What I don’t understand is the fact that me knowing of his relation doesn’t change anything. He was still related to the Astors by marriage this morning when he drove me to work, last night when he kissed me goodnight, and months ago when I came into town. To me, it’s just another piece to the puzzle. To him…I really don’t know what my discovery means for him.
After dinner, I lay down on the couch. I haven’t been in this position since those first days. I have the pictures of my sister and me setting on the coffee table. There’s also a picture of my mother and father and my grandparents adorning the space. I bought a cute picture frame last week when Tucker and I drove into Riverside for the day that sits next to mine holding a picture of two people that I don’t even know. The plan was to put a picture of Tucker and me in it once I got the film developed but the thought makes me upset so I knock the frame over. I’d hoped it would just lie flat on the wood beneath it but instead it flies across the table and lands on the floor. Not being able to leave it be, I get up and retrieve it.
The old diary that was gifted to me as a housewarming present catches my eye. The tattered red fabric covering the front stands out among all the blacks and navy blues of the other books it’s mixed with on the bottom shelf of the table. I’ve only ever opened it to look at what it was. It felt more personal than anything else I found in this house so I put it away and haven’t picked it up since.
In my loneliness and frustration, I decide to read some of it. Settling into the couch, the place where I can just picture Granny sitting and writing out the pages set before me, I begin. Some of it sounds familiar, words that she had put into letters she sent to my grandfather. She delves deeper though, words she wouldn’t say to him about the family feud, about what her father did to her, the bruises he left on the outside and inside. Years pass before she writes in it again. She’s married now, my father on the way. She starts talking about the town curse and how the last two years it has taken someone she cared about. She mentions her worry that it will one day come for her family. Then there is joy for a time. After a few passages, it skips many years and then she writes that the curse had finally come knocking at her door. My grandfather was killed on the night of her writing. October thirteenth, the date penned in large letters at the top of the page. She mentions the sight of him lying in his own pool of blood, eyes open wide, mouth spread just as big. This was
no accident, she writes. They did it. I know they did. They kept telling me it was going to happen. I wouldn’t listen. They had been wrong about everything else.
My eyes shoot open, my neck cracking and body aching as I realize where I am. I dozed off while reading last night, the book lying open on my chest only slightly falling from its place. Rusty is licking me, whining and nudging me to move. “You need to go out?” I ask the dog.
That’s when I hear the knocking at the door. It’s barely light out so I’m not sure who would be visiting at this time of the day. Tucker has a key so I can’t imagine it would be him, but that’s exactly who greets me when I open the door. He doesn’t even give me a moment to get my bearings before he’s got me in his arms, holding me tighter than he has ever before.
“Can you forgive me?” he’s asking over and over again.
“You can’t help your place in life any more than I can. Of course, I forgive you,” I say into his chest.
He won’t let me go or loosen the hold he has me in so I settle into it, allowing him to get out whatever it is that he’s dealing with. We eventually move to the couch and he explains to me how far this feud has embedded into his life and changed so many things for him. It was okay before he decided to take the job helping my grandmother around the house. His father told him that he should leave it to someone else, but there was no one else who would do the work. His father was upset but told him that if he didn’t mention it to anyone in town, it would turn out just fine. Well, obviously Tucker stuck around longer than he anticipated and people in town started talking. Once his uncle found out, he said he’d be cut from the family business if he didn’t quit. Tucker is not that kind of person to just up and leave someone without good reason. He didn’t have a good reason. Gladys needed him so he stuck around and lost his position in the family business. He’s been able to branch out in the community, but only got jobs that were too small for his family to take on. Which obviously doesn’t pay as well and explains why he’s living on the other side of town.
“Why didn’t you just tell me this? None of this makes me care for you any less.”
His head moves left to right but he doesn’t respond to my comments.
“When Gladys died, they let me back in momentarily. My father told my uncle that had been the plan all along. I retrieved a few pieces of Astor history from the property and gave them to my uncle.” He grabs my hand, clinching it tightly in his. “It wasn’t anything you’d have any interest in or I’d have gotten it back by now.”
I nod but don’t speak because I really don’t know what to say at this time and I want to hear the rest of what Tucker has to say.
“They found out you were coming to town, and they were furious. They assumed the Dupont name was dead. If you had married and changed your name, you wouldn’t have been entitled to the property. Mr. Jones made sure that was in your grandmother’s will.”
“The Astor reach is far,” I mumble.
“You don’t know the half of it.”
“Enlighten me.” I try to pull my hand from his but he only grasps it tighter.
“That’s exactly what I’m doing.”
I nod for him to continue.
“They asked me to get close to you, to chase you out of town. I had promised your grandmother the exact opposite. I grew to care about her immensely and thought of her as my own grandmother. She took good care of me, especially when my family cut me off because of her.”
“She was an Astor by birth.”
“She gave that up when she decided to marry your grandfather. Astors aren’t big on forgiveness.”
“I can see that.”
“Anyway…that first night, the one where the window was open.”
“I remember it vividly.”
“I knew that my father had made that happen. He’s the only other person living who knows this house inside and out. He must have come in and undone the window. I’m not sure if he was planning on attacking you or sending someone else to do it, but I knew he must be up to something. I decided then that I didn’t want the Astors to win. I was going to do things my way. I liked you from the moment you stepped out of your truck, the sun shining through your hair, the way you smiled at your dog. I just knew you were a good person and I planned to do right by you. I didn’t however plan on falling in love at first sight.”
He never admitted it to me before, but there has always been something in the way Tucker has looked at me, treated me, that tells me that he knew in that moment he wanted to be with me. I reach over and kiss him, halting his next words momentarily. He doesn’t let me get carried away though, so I know what he’s saying is important.
“When you told Jones you were staying, he reported back to my family that I wasn’t holding up my end of the bargain and I was in fact sabotaging the removal of all the Duponts from this place. I was once again ostracized.” He stares at me for a moment. “I don’t care. If I have you, none of that matters. Unless… Unless it matters to you?”
“I only want you to be happy.”
“You make me happy.”
“You do the same for me. Exactly what I was looking for even though I didn’t realize I was even hunting.”
It’s his turn to place his lips on mine, pulling back just enough to whisper. “You keep distracting me and I want to finish this tale.”
“Then finish.” I push him back with my free hand, barely moving him out of place.
“My uncle started making threats to people that they shouldn’t talk to you or he would make sure they would regret it. He didn’t get to the editor before you did. That threw him for a loop. It also opened up the door for others to walk through and start talking.”
“You’ve always known about the supposed curse?”
“Yes. I’m sorry. Telling that truth would have meant telling the rest of this sordid tale. I didn’t think either of us was ready for it.”
“You don’t give me enough credit.”
“I know that now. At the time, I was afraid. You could pack it all up and I’d never see you again. Admit it, had you known all of this way back when, it may not have been worth it for you to stay.”
I think back six months and I can’t say that I would have wanted to stick around. Although, the thought of sticking it to the Astors, to not give them what they want seems a little more satisfying than it probably should. That was also before I believed in how the curse affected my family, before I knew how far this feud had really gone… It doesn’t excuse his lies.
“I’m not happy you kept that from me, but the fact that we’ve gotten this far since says something. You’ve helped me. You’re opening up now. I need to know the rest.”
“Things have been quiet. I believe my family is lying low for the time being. Or maybe they’ve decided to ignore the fact that a Dupont is residing in their town, in their home.”
“In their home? How is this their home? And, is there an actual Astor in Crimson Falls?”
“They built it, the Astors were the original deed owners of this property. Before the feud, they sold it to the Duponts and they were ready to claim what they believed was rightfully theirs.”
My mind is reeling but I need more.
“To answer your other question, there’s no one with the name Astor living inside Crimson Falls. They are a founding family though and there are multiple Astor families surrounding the town, but they have refused to step inside of it for a couple of generations.
“When you asked me if I was an Astor, I lost my mind. I thought once you knew that, you probably knew everything else. I mean, I planned to tell you eventually, it just never seemed like the right time. When you heard it from someone else, I figured you might pick up and leave town. I didn’t want to see it happen. Couldn’t handle the thought of watching you leave. After I went home and thought about it, and tried to sleep for a while, I knew I had to get back over here and talk to you, tell you all of it. Honestly, I knew deep down you’d understand, I just didn’t want to admit tha
t I’d been keeping something from you for so long. That our relationship started out dishonestly.”
It’s a pretty big secret that he kept, but he had a good reason. “It’s going to take me a little bit to hand over complete trust, but you revealing it all to me now is a good start. From now on, please don’t wait until someone else tells me before you decide to come clean. I might not go so easy on you the next time.” I place my hand on his face and rub against the stubble he’s beginning to grow along his jaw line. “I care for you and I have plans to build a future in this crazy, cursed town. Family feud and all!”
His smile tells me everything I need to know. His lips show me just how much he means it.
CHAPTER TEN
The sacred time grows closer, and a small inkling of fear starts to trickle in. As the clock ticks over to midnight, and the new day, I think about how things have changed in my life since this time last year. It’s been exactly a year since my grandmother passed away. Everything that has been told to me is that she died of a heart attack, but I know that’s not the whole truth. She knew she was going to die, even prepared for it. She was actually the one who traveled to find out about me. She needed to know what kind of person I was and if I had what she believed it would take to live in this town. She paid Jackson to drive her down to Georgia where she watched me at the fair with my friends, snapped photos of me, followed me home from there, and saw where I lived. She even stuck around until the next day to watch me work at the diner. She wanted more for me, she wrote in the journal.
The last entry she penned was on October twelfth. She didn’t indicate how it would happen, just that she knew that entry would be her last. Granny wrote she’d be taking the journal to Jackson and he would give it to me if and when I decided to call Crimson Falls my home. She told me to trust Jackson and only him if I ever needed anything in this town. She cared for Tucker and appreciated him, but Granny believed his family had a bigger hold on him than he let on. She didn’t know that I would build a relationship with him but guessed it possible and warned me of what could happen if and when it did. Even though she didn’t have complete trust that his family wouldn’t interfere, she wrote that she thought if I were anything like her, I’d be able to handle the Astors and anything they may try to throw my way. She hoped my future here would be brighter than hers.