Free Catherine's Cross by Millie West Page A

about their punishment, and we knew we were in for it.” He stopped for a moment and then said, “My father was a strong believer in discipline, and he took a belt to Steel and me that evening. I think I might still have those scars.”
    â€œI’m so sorry.”
    He took a sip of lemonade and looked at Jenks. “Please tell me about you and your sister. I bet you two were like angels growing up.”
    She smiled at him. “Well, I don’t know if I’d say that. I know we took our first steps on the same day. We both twirled our hair when we got nervous. At times, she could be very secretive. And then there was this uncanny ability for each of us to sense if the other was in trouble.” Cold chills enveloped her as she thought of the day of Gigi’s death. She had sensed Gigi’s panic as she perished.
    Fear washed over her, and she took a deep breath.
    â€œHey now, what’s wrong?”
    â€œI was just thinking of the day that Gigi died. I knew something was wrong long before I found out about her.”
    â€œI understand,” Seth said as he took her hand in his and squeezed her fingers. “Tell me about your school days.”
    â€œWell, let’s see. We always did do our best in school. Gigi was my heroine, but I suppose she was everyone’s leader. She had what I think you’d call charisma. We were both on the cheerleading squad in high school; she was the head cheerleader and extremely popular. I think I gained easier admittance to activities because she was so outgoing. One thing is for sure—you couldn’t ask for a more loyal friend.”
    â€œIt sounds like she was a wonderful person.”
    Jenks nodded. “I remember there was this poor girl in our class that had weight problems. There were these two girls on the cheerleading squad with us that made fun of her.” She sipped her lemonade. “I could never understand their cruelty toward her because both of them were very attractive. They were both named Susan. One had dark brown hair and the other was a blonde. To this day, I’ve never met a more vindictive female than the blond-headed Susan. Midway through our senior year, the dark-haired Susan decided that she was not simply Susan anymore. She changed her name, becoming the illustrious ‘Susannah.’”
    â€œWhew—do I detect some jealously issues might have existed between you and those girls?”
    â€œNo, they were loathing issues—from my point of view.”
    â€œBoy, you’re a little fireball . . . go on.”
    â€œGigi found Beryl, that’s the girl who had the weight issues, in the bathroom crying. She told her that she had been called hateful names by the two Susans and couldn’t help her tears. My sister took those two witches to task over what they had said.”
    â€œWitches?”
    â€œYes. They stopped making fun of her. Unfortunately, there were others who bullied her as well.”
    â€œWhat happened to her?”
    â€œSeth—she committed suicide.”
    â€œI’m sorry to hear that,” he said, a deep frown passing over his countenance. He looked into her eyes. “What happened to your father?”
    â€œHe was an engineer with the North Carolina Highway Department. An overpass was under construction on I-85 near Greensboro and water pipes were being installed along the corridor. The pipes were stacked on a flatbed truck at the site. While a crane was unloading the pipes, one of them rolled forward on the flatbed. As it came off, my father was able to push his assistant out of the way but could not save himself. A five-hundred-pound pipe came down onto his chest. He died instantly.”
    â€œI’m sorry.”
    â€œI am too. My mother never got over what happened to him, but a few years ago a gentleman moved in next to her. He’s a widower, and they became close friends. Gregg Mikell—you met him the day he drove us from Raleigh to