Her Brother's Keeper by Beth Wiseman Page A

Charlotte’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry that happened to you when you were a child, Mary. So very sorry.” She wrapped her arms around Charlotte and squeezed for a few moments before she eased away. “And I am very sorry, also, about Hannah’s outburst.” She hung her head and sighed before she looked back up at Charlotte. “We all lost someone special to us, someone we loved very much. It was about a year ago, and it was the hardest on Hannah. She was going to marry this man.” She paused, and Charlotte couldn’t breathe as she waited for her to go on. “He hanged himself. Not far from here. In his own backyard.”

Four

    C harlotte stared out the bedroom window and watched Isaac walk toward the barn. She’d been looking forward to their date on Saturday, but any excitement she’d had was suspended. She’d known that Ethan had hanged himself, but hearing Lena say it and being witness to Hannah’s hysteria had left Charlotte in a funk.
    Hannah had apologized for her outburst two more times and seemed to want to talk, but Charlotte had stayed to herself the past couple of days. Hannah might be ready to share information about Ethan, but Charlotte wasn’t sure she was ready to hear it now. Instead, she found herself recalling parts of her past that were best forgotten.
    Their parents had spent the majority of Ethan’s and Charlotte’s childhood fighting. Their father eventually landed in jail for assaulting their mother, but after that, it was their mother who took over the beatings, and after one too many times, Charlotte had called the police, something she wouldn’t have done if she could have foreseen the consequences. She had no idea where her mother was these days. And she didn’t care.
    Charlotte’s phone call had resulted in Ethan and her being separated for nearly two years. She recalled the foster home where the fire had started, and a shiver ran up her spine—but only partly from recollections of the fire. She and Ethan never talked about those two years apart, and she’d always wondered if Ethan’s foster home had been anything like the one she’d been in. She wondered if Ethan had hidden things in an empty mothball box in the closet like they’d done when they lived at home. Their mother had insisted they keep a box of mothballs in the closet, but she wouldn’t even touch the boxes, saying the smell made her gag. Charlotte and Ethan had always trashed the mothballs and stored anything they didn’t want her to see in the empty boxes. It wasn’t until she was older that Charlotte realized that mothballs were toxic. Luckily, neither she nor Ethan had ever eaten one.
    She stuffed the painful memories back in the dark part of her brain and walked downstairs. The aroma of freshly baked bread was too much to resist. She walked into the kitchen just as Hannah was taking two loaves from the oven. Lena had gone to the auction to see about purchasing more goats, and Amos and Jacob were doing whatever they did out in the fields. They came in each night smelling of hay and manure. Charlotte was thankful they both bathed before dinner— supper, she reminded herself.
    Charlotte breathed in the smell of what had become her most favorite food in the world, then she walked to the window, just in time to catch a glimpse of Isaac leaving in his buggy.
    â€œAre you excited about your date?” Hannah placed the loaves of bread on the cooling rack.
    Hannah’s tone was clipped. Clearly, Cousin Hannah wasn’t in the mood to apologize anymore. Charlotte shrugged. “I guess.”
    Hannah leaned against the counter and folded her arms across her chest. “You will only be here for three more weeks, so I hope you won’t lead Isaac on. He’s a very nice man, and I’d hate to see him get hurt.” Hannah raised her chin in a way that reminded Charlotte of a hair-pulling incident she’d