in their room, she didn't like eating in a room full of people she didn't know, so she didn't realize her mother had met him and had been spending time with him. Both being widowed, they felt a connection to each other, they'd understood the loss of losing a spouse. Once his house was finished, he proposed to Charlotte and she accepted.
After that, life changed drastically for Josie and her mother. They went from sharing a cot in their little room at the boarding house to living in a sprawling Queen Anne home that was twice the size of the whole boarding house!
George took Charlotte on a honeymoon trip, bring Josie along with them as they shopped for furnishings for the new home, went sight-seeing and ate at fine restaurants. It was a whole new world for Josie and she felt like she was living in a fairy tale, George even took her to a bookstore and let her pick out as many books as could fit on the new bookshelves in her room. That was her favorite part of her new life.
But her fairy tale didn't have a happy ending as the ones she read about in storybooks. It was on the trip to Philadelphia that she first noticed the inappropriate way that George would look at her. The first time, she looked away, thinking it was just an innocent, awkward exchange. But when she looked back, he was still looking at her, in a way that made her skin crawl. She spent the whole train ride back trying to decide whether or not it was just her imagination but after arriving home, she realized it wasn't her imagination and it only got worse.
Whenever she'd get the courage up to approach her mother about the subject, she would end up changing her mind. Her mother was so happy, she didn't want to take that away. Of all people, her mother deserved some happiness in life. And it wasn't as if George mistreated her, he treated her like a queen. He was kind to her, lavishing her with attention and gifts, and was a perfect gentleman to her. In fact, it was very out of character for George to act the way he did to Josie, which is why she had a hard time deciding if she was overreacting or not. But the more it continued and the worse it got, the more she knew it was not her imagination.
She'd reached a turning point one night when she went to her room to retire for the evening. She took off her dress and was in her camisole and petticoats when she heard a noise, a very slight noise, behind her. She turned around and there, for a moment, she saw an eyeball peering at her in the cracked door. She shuddered in horror, feeling a shiver crawl down her spine. She jumped in bed and pulled the quilt up around her neck. She didn't realize she needed to lock her bedroom door in her own house but apparently that was the case from now on, after this encounter. To think that her stepfather saw her in her camisole was a burning embarrassment, a violation of trust. She didn't feel safe. If he could violate the privacy of her bedroom, what was next?
Josie decided that it was time to confront her mother, it was something that must be done. One afternoon, while George was still at his law office, she gathered her courage and approached her mother, who was sitting in the parlor doing embroidery work and humming to herself. When she saw Josie come in, she looked up and smiled at her.
“Hello, Josie. How was school today?” she asked.
Josie didn't want to talk about school. Then she'd have to tell her mother how much she disliked school and was glad that now that she was eighteen, this would be her last year of it. However, the school talk would have to wait for another time, now she needed to focus on the conversation she needed to have with her mother about George.
“Fine,” was all she said about school before changing the subject. She looked down at her mother's fingers skillfully moving the embroidery needle for a moment before going on.
“Mother, do you have time to talk with me for a few minutes?”
“Why, of course I do, I always have time for you,
After that, life changed drastically for Josie and her mother. They went from sharing a cot in their little room at the boarding house to living in a sprawling Queen Anne home that was twice the size of the whole boarding house!
George took Charlotte on a honeymoon trip, bring Josie along with them as they shopped for furnishings for the new home, went sight-seeing and ate at fine restaurants. It was a whole new world for Josie and she felt like she was living in a fairy tale, George even took her to a bookstore and let her pick out as many books as could fit on the new bookshelves in her room. That was her favorite part of her new life.
But her fairy tale didn't have a happy ending as the ones she read about in storybooks. It was on the trip to Philadelphia that she first noticed the inappropriate way that George would look at her. The first time, she looked away, thinking it was just an innocent, awkward exchange. But when she looked back, he was still looking at her, in a way that made her skin crawl. She spent the whole train ride back trying to decide whether or not it was just her imagination but after arriving home, she realized it wasn't her imagination and it only got worse.
Whenever she'd get the courage up to approach her mother about the subject, she would end up changing her mind. Her mother was so happy, she didn't want to take that away. Of all people, her mother deserved some happiness in life. And it wasn't as if George mistreated her, he treated her like a queen. He was kind to her, lavishing her with attention and gifts, and was a perfect gentleman to her. In fact, it was very out of character for George to act the way he did to Josie, which is why she had a hard time deciding if she was overreacting or not. But the more it continued and the worse it got, the more she knew it was not her imagination.
She'd reached a turning point one night when she went to her room to retire for the evening. She took off her dress and was in her camisole and petticoats when she heard a noise, a very slight noise, behind her. She turned around and there, for a moment, she saw an eyeball peering at her in the cracked door. She shuddered in horror, feeling a shiver crawl down her spine. She jumped in bed and pulled the quilt up around her neck. She didn't realize she needed to lock her bedroom door in her own house but apparently that was the case from now on, after this encounter. To think that her stepfather saw her in her camisole was a burning embarrassment, a violation of trust. She didn't feel safe. If he could violate the privacy of her bedroom, what was next?
Josie decided that it was time to confront her mother, it was something that must be done. One afternoon, while George was still at his law office, she gathered her courage and approached her mother, who was sitting in the parlor doing embroidery work and humming to herself. When she saw Josie come in, she looked up and smiled at her.
“Hello, Josie. How was school today?” she asked.
Josie didn't want to talk about school. Then she'd have to tell her mother how much she disliked school and was glad that now that she was eighteen, this would be her last year of it. However, the school talk would have to wait for another time, now she needed to focus on the conversation she needed to have with her mother about George.
“Fine,” was all she said about school before changing the subject. She looked down at her mother's fingers skillfully moving the embroidery needle for a moment before going on.
“Mother, do you have time to talk with me for a few minutes?”
“Why, of course I do, I always have time for you,
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