Do You Promise Not to Tell? by Mary Jane Clark Read Free Book Online Page B

darling, wear this pin. . .. I designed and executed it myself. . .. A big, round moon . . . of enamel and sapphires. Each month, when the moon is full, look up at the vast dark sky and wish upon it. Hope and wish and pray that we will soon be together again
.
Know, Nadjia, that I will be here in Russia . . . looking up, too. I have another pin, a companion piece to yours. Mine is the moon, too, but in its crescent phase. And I will be wishing on the slivered moon
.
Between us, the moon is ours, in its waxing and its waning. And when we are together again, we will slip the moons together, a masterpiece to behold
.
My love to you for all eternity
,
‘
V
.’
     
    Nadine removed the round enamel-and-sapphire pin she had worn almost every day since her mother Nadjia had died. As she lay dying, mother had given daughter the round pin as she whispered the story of her true love, Nadine’s father. She had passed away before telling her daughter her father’s name.
    Now, as she fitted the round moon to her newly acquired crescent, Nadine trembled as she realized that the two pieces did indeed create a masterpiece.
    The round, full moon, joined to its crescent, together formed an oval—a miniature Moon Egg.

Chapter 22
    Maybe she should think about a whole new career. Flipping hamburgers at McDonald’s looked real good right now. You worked your shift and went home. No mind games.
    Farrell stood in the tiny galley kitchen of her West Side apartment and twisted the can opener.
    “C’mon, Walter. Here, Jane.” She put two small ceramic bowls on the floor, one red and one blue. In true anchor style, Walter Cronkat and Jane Pawley didn’t share. The cats each demanded, and got, their own.
    Four years at Sarah Lawrence, graduating at the top of her class, fifteen years at KEY News, the pinnacle of broadcast journalism, multiple Emmys, and hundreds of thousands of miles logged covering fascinating stories, and now
this
.
    What do I have to show for all of it?
she asked herself, glancing at the awards collecting dust on the crowded bookcase.
    Her personal life was empty.
    She thought of Rick and wondered what might have been. What if she had followed him to Atlanta when he had taken the job with CNN? At the time, they had thought a long-distance relationship could work out. How naive they had been.
    Now Rick was married to someone else, with asecond baby on the way. And Farrell doubted she would ever have a child.
    Thursday night, and the March weekend loomed gray and long. Farrell’s mind was reeling. The thought of looking for another job depressed her—big time. Nor did she want to dwell on Range’s words—or worse, consider that he might be right. Maybe she
wasn’t
aggressive enough, hadn’t gotten psyched enough about her stories. She had to admit that sometimes she found herself just going through the motions at work. And that wasn’t good enough.
    Procrastination was always an option. She didn’t want to spend the weekend analyzing herself and thinking about her uncertain future. She could call Robbie. But the idea held little solace for her. In the sibling relationship they had, Farrell, as the older of the two, was the comforter. She did not think going to Robbie would make her feel better. She would feel guilty leaning on him when, in her opinion, he could barely take care of himself.
    Farrell wanted to get away. She should get out of the city. A change of scenery, that’s what she needed. But where?
    Someplace close by, but a world away from KEY News.

Chapter 23
    Olga lit a fresh white candle beneath the icon of the Virgin and Child that hung in the
krasny ugol
, the beautiful corner of her tiny living room. She closed her eyes and prayed, as she always did.
    “Holy Mother, forgive us. Holy Mother, protect us. Holy Mother, pray for us.”
    The frail old woman reached up to smooth the linen stole that draped the gold-rimmed icon. It was a white scarf on which, so many years ago, she had carefully stitched tiny