Watching Amanda by Janelle Taylor Read Free Book Online Page B

worrying, chewing a fingernail until Lettie had knocked on the door to babysit Tommy. And then it had been time to go, but Amanda’s feet had stopped listening to her brain.
    â€œIt’ll be okay,” Lettie had assured her. “No matter what, honey, you’ll be okay. You always have been. Just remember that.”
    Remember that now , Amanda told herself as the door opened and George Harris entered, a safety-deposit box in his hand.
    With a cordial hello and a good morning, the lawyer set the box on the desk in front of Amanda. He withdrew a set of keys from his pocket, and opened the box, and Amanda closed her eyes.
    â€œAre you all right?” the attorney asked.
    â€œNervous, but all right,” Amanda said.
    He offered an empathetic smile, and then removed a plain, white, legal-sized envelope from the box. “Here is your envelope,” he said. “You are required to open it before midnight tonight. The contents of the envelope are self-explanatory, but should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call.”
    â€œThank you, Mr. Harris,” she said, hoping he’d say something else, something assuring. But he said nothing before picking up the box and leaving the room.
    When the door closed behind him, Amanda turned back to the desk and stared at the envelope in front of her. Typed in plain black letters across the front was: TO BE OPENED BY AMANDA SEDGWICK ON DECEMBER TENTH.
    Amanda picked it up. Practically weightless. There couldn’t be more than one sheet of paper inside. Or a check.
    She gnawed her lower lip and turned over the envelope. There was nothing written on the back.
    She flipped it over in her hands, willing herself to open it, to just get it over with already.
    She slipped her thumb along the back edge, but then shook her head and stuck the envelope in the inside pocket of her purse.
    She’d rather be in her own home when she opened it. Who knew what was inside? A check for a penny? A check for a million dollars? A letter explaining why her father had decided not to be her father?
    Ugh. Just go home , she told herself. Go home, relieve Lettie, and open it.
    Perhaps it will settle things for you once and for all.
    Â 
    â€œDid you open it?” Jenny asked.
    Amanda twisted the phone cord around her finger and stared at the envelope on her kitchen table. This was the third time Jenny had called since Amanda had gotten home from the lawyer’s office two hours ago.
    â€œNot yet.”
    Jenny let out a disappointed screech. “Amanda, how can you stand the suspense? It’s killing me !”
    I can stand it , she thought. She’d stood it for twenty-eight years, and this was the very last opportunity to have some kind of understanding of the man who gave her life.
    â€œYou know what they say about ignorance being bliss,” Amanda said. “I feel like when I open it, my entire world is going to change ... or not, which is almost as bad.” She sat down on a kitchen chair and stared out the window. “I’m scared, Jen. I’m scared of what’s in this stupid plain envelope that weighs next to nothing.”
    â€œI know,” Jenny said. “But you’ve been facing your fears head on for a long time, Amanda. Whatever is in there, you’ll handle it fine. I know it.”
    â€œThanks, Jenny.”
    â€œCall me as soon as you open it,” Jenny said.
    Which may be never , Amanda thought.
    You’re required to open the envelope before midnight tonight, the lawyer had told her.
    The ringing of a buzzer startled Amanda. She wondered who it could be. Jenny was at work, and Lettie lived in the building and had no reason to ring the buzzer at the door downstairs.
    â€œYes?” Amanda said into the intercom.
    â€œAmanda, it’s Olivia.”
    Olivia?
    Amanda pressed the buzzer that opened the downstairs door, then unlocked her apartment door and waited for her sister to make the trek up to