The Diary by Eileen Goudge Read Free Book Online Page A

their mother’s account of that long-ago day. The diary entry had given rise to more questions than answers. Who was this mystery man who’d captivated the young Elizabeth? All they knew about AJ, from what they’d read thus far, was that he and their mother had gone to school together and that he’d done time in juvenile detention for having set fire to a car belonging to an uncle described only as a “horrid brute” who’d deserved it. While their mother had written at great length about AJ jumping in to save her after she’d fallen into the creek and the feelings evoked by that incident, she’d only alluded briefly to earlier events. She obviously hadn’t intended for her diary to be read—and puzzled over, in this case—by a future generation.
    â€œWhat I want to know is, what did AJ have that Dad didn’t?” Emily ventured after a bit.
    Sarah sighed. “Who knows?” Did it even matter at this point? Their mother had clearly made the right choice in the end. “Whatever it was, it wasn’t enough to keep her from marrying Dad.”
    â€œBut what if she didn’t marry him for love?” Ever since her divorce, Emily had been prone to dark ruminations about marriage in general.
    â€œThere are all kinds of love,” Sarah said.
    Emily drained the last of the wine from her jelly jar. “Still, I can’t help wondering,” she said. “If Mom was so crazy about this other guy, why didn’t she marry him instead?”
    â€œMaybe he wasn’t the marrying kind.”
    â€œOr maybe Grandmother Mildred put her foot down.” The sisters hadn’t known their grandmother—she’d died when Sarah was little, shortly after Emily was born—but from what little their mother had told them, it was plain that their grandmother had ruled her household with an iron fist. If she hadn’t approved of AJ, that alone might have been enough to nip any romance in the bud.
    Sarah put an end to the speculation by pronouncing, “Either way, Dad was the better man. Mom must have known that deep down, even when she was infatuated with AJ.”
    Emily remained unconvinced. “Actually, it’s kind of tragic when you think of it,” she said, getting up to toss another log onto the fire. “I mean, if AJ was the one she truly loved.”
    Sarah shook her head in fond exasperation. Why did Emily always have to be so theatrical? “If she hadn’t married Dad, neither of us would be here,” she reminded her sister. “Now, that would be tragic.”
    â€œSpeak for yourself,” Emily replied moodily as she stood idly poking at the fire. No doubt she was thinking about her own unhappy marriage, which had dragged on much longer than it should have.
    â€œI don’t think Mom ever regretted her choice.” Sarah sought to bring some perspective to her sister’s dark flight of fancy. “Even if she wasn’t madly in love with Dad in the beginning, it deepened over time.”
    Emily, still wearing a troubled look, turned to face her sister, holding the brass fireplace poker clenched in one hand as if it were a magic wand with the power to shed light on the past. “Yes, but that still doesn’t answer my question: Why him if she was in love with someone else?”
    Sarah heaved another sigh and gazed down at the worn leather volume on her lap, its ink faded and its pages yellowed with age. “We won’t know the answer to that until we read more.”
    Emily eyed the nearly empty wine bottle on the coffee table. “I think this calls for another drink.”
    Sarah shook her head. “Better not. Remember, we still have to drive home.” Also, the next morning they had church, then the usual Sunday visit to the nursing home, for which they would need every ounce of their strength. “If I don’t make it in one piece, my husband and kids will be in the same boat