“No problem at all. See you in a few minutes, sweetie,” Shirley said before hanging up.
Rachel hurried from her small studio down the hallway to the kitchen, grabbed her keys and purse, then walked through the door into the garage. Starting her Honda CRV, she sat back a moment and took a breath. She was wearing a pair of old jeans, a T-shirt, and sneakers. Not exactly what she’d usually wear to visit her aunt, but she didn’t have the time or energy to change. So, Rachel pulled out of the garage, headed down her long, tree-lined driveway, and turned her car toward Tallahassee.
Twenty minutes later, Rachel parked her car at the memory care center and walked purposefully to the main entrance. The center had several separate units, each like its own house, where up to six residents lived. Each resident had a small apartment of their own, and the main unit held a central kitchen and dining room where they met to eat. They also had a shared living room where the residents could gather to watch television if they wished. Rachel had felt fortunate to find such a lovely place with beautiful outdoor grounds for her aunt to live. When she’d first moved Aunt Julie there in May, she seemed to transition well. But over the past few weeks, Julie had become more anxious and upset, and no one seemed to understand why.
“Ah, now lookie here,” Shirley said kindly to Julie as Rachel walked into her one-bedroom apartment. “Rachel has come to visit you. Isn’t that nice of her?”
Rachel smiled at Shirley as she entered and noticed immediately how harried her aunt looked. “Hi, Aunt Julie. I hear you’re not doing too well today.”
Julie had been pacing in a small circle around her living room, mumbling to herself, but stopped suddenly when she heard Rachel’s voice. She looked up quickly, her once vibrant hazel eyes now dull. Her beautiful auburn hair was cut to chin length and had gone completely gray. Julie was only sixty-three, but she looked like a woman twenty years older. Alzheimer’s had taken its toll on her aunt, and it broke Rachel’s heart every time she saw her.
“There you are. You’re finally here. We have to talk,” Julie said in a rush as she wrung her hands. Her eyes darted to Shirley. “We need to talk in private,” she whispered to Rachel.
Rachel rubbed her aunt’s back, trying to soothe her. “Of course we can talk, Auntie,” she said.
“That’s my cue, darlin,” Shirley said, turning her bulky frame to leave. She winked at Rachel with her warm brown eyes. “You call me if you need me, hon,” she said.
Rachel nodded. She was so thankful her aunt had Shirley to care for her.
Julie continued pacing, so Rachel tried to maneuver her over to the sofa. “Let’s sit,” she suggested.
Julie did as her niece asked, but she looked tense and harried. “We must talk. I have to tell you something important.”
“Okay. We can talk,” Rachel said soothingly as she reached for one of her aunt’s hands and held it in hers. Julie had been wringing her hands for so long, they were turning red and bruised.
Julie looked up at Rachel, her eyes fearful. “You may hate me when I tell you. I should have told you years ago. I’m so sorry. I just couldn’t.”
Rachel was puzzled. What could her aunt tell her that would make her angry? “You can tell me anything, Auntie,” she said. “Is it this place? Aren’t you happy here?”
Julie shook her head vigorously. “No. No. It’s not this place,” she shrieked.
“Okay. Calm down. Just tell me what you need to say,” Rachel said.
Julie turned her head from side to side as if to make sure they were alone. She moved in closer to Rachel and whispered, “It’s your brother.”
Rachel pulled back, shocked. That was the last thing she’d expected her aunt to say. “My brother?”
Julie shushed her. “Don’t tell anyone. No one can know you had a brother. We have to keep it quiet. But you need to know.”
“Know what?” Rachel insisted.
Julie slouched lower on the sofa. “It wasn’t our fault. We were only doing what was best for you,” she whispered. “We didn’t know.” Her eyes met Rachel’s. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”
Rachel saw fear in Julie’s eyes. She had no idea what her aunt was talking about—it all sounded like nonsense—but she nodded as if she understood. “It’s fine, Auntie. I understand. I’ll keep it quiet. No one will ever know.”
Julie nodded and slowly began to calm down. Rachel started talking about Jules and how she was meeting her for dinner later that night. This made Julie happy. She adored Jules—her namesake.
After a while, Julie seemed lost in her own world again. She asked Rachel how her husband, Carter, was doing and if he was on the road. Rachel didn’t have the strength to remind her aunt that Carter had died in a car accident four years earlier. It would only upset her all over again. An hour after she’d arrived, Rachel kissed Julie on the cheek and told her she’d visit again soon.
Shirley was in the hallway when Rachel left her aunt in front of the television, watching a talk show.
“Is she doing any better, hon?” Shirley asked.
“She’s calmer. I don’t understand what had upset her, but she’s forgotten already,” Rachel told her.
Shirley shook her head, her tight black curls bobbing. “Such a shame. Maybe she doesn’t even know what upset her. I’ll go in and check on her.”
“Thanks, Shirley.” Rachel waved and headed to her car.
As she drove home, Rachel wondered why her aunt had brought up her brother. Rachel hadn’t thought of Keith in years—decades even. The day she and her aunt and uncle drove away from the small town in California, little was ever mentioned again about her parents or her brother. Rachel remembered asking if she
