Free Daughters by Florence Osmund

changed gears. “Esther, how is Catherine?” Catherine was Marie’s old boss, and the last time she had seen her she had been in an iron lung suffering from polio.
    “She passed away, Marie, a few months after you left.”
    More tears. “I’m so sorry. I feel so awful I wasn’t here for her.”
    “Don’t feel bad. Looks like you had your own things to worry about. Besides, we heard that you were the one responsible for getting her an iron lung in their home, and believe me, that helped her through a very difficult time.”
    “Well, it was Richard actually. But in any case, I’m glad we were able to help in some way.” She let out a wispy sigh. “Look, I have to go. I came in with my father, and we’re meeting for lunch in a few minutes.” She took out a pen and piece of paper from her purse. “Here’s my address and phone number. Let me have yours too. And I’ll call you when I’m in town next and we’ll talk more.”
    The two women hugged again before Marie hurried to the elevator.

    “How did it go?” Jonathan asked after they were seated at a lunch table.
    She smiled a blissful smile. “It went well. My best friend at the time still works there, and we had a long talk. I had a lot of explaining to do.”
    “I’ll bet you did. Will you keep in touch?”
    “Oh, yes.”
    “You’re not afraid of Richard?”
    “Not anymore. He can try anything he wants. I will not let him affect my life any longer.” Marie thought about her response. “You know, at first that scared me.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Not being afraid of him anymore. Because I think I may have been hiding behind that fear in some respects. Then when I decided I wasn’t going to let him do that to me, I felt a little naked.”
    “And now?”
    “I’ve moved on from that.”
    Jonathan put his hand over hers. “That’s the spirit.”
    Jonathan told Marie over dinner that evening that he and Claire thought it would be nice to spend Marie’s last two days in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The Feinsteins owned a lake house there and had said it would be free for them to use.

    They got an early start for Wisconsin. Jonathan drove in his 1947 Chrysler Town and Country woody. Marie rode shotgun, and Claire sat in the backseat. Marie spent more time turned around talking with Claire than she did talking with Jonathan. The roads were clear of snow and light on traffic, so they were able to make good time. They arrived at Gregory’s lake house mid-morning.
    Marie was surprised to find that the lake house they had talked about so nonchalantly was quite the place. They pulled up in front of a three-car attached garage and walked the circular driveway through the front door under the twenty-foot-high pillars surrounding the portico. Inside, the foyer spanned both stories, and the large crystal chandelier in its center hung from a long heavy-gauge anchor link chain.
    “Would you like a tour?” Claire asked.
    “Of course,” Marie responded.
    “I’ll meet you on the sun porch,” said Jonathan.
    The home had an oversized eat-in kitchen perfect for entertaining. On the first floor, in addition to the large sun porch, were a formal dining room, large living room with a stone fireplace that took up one entire wall, two bathrooms, and a mud room. Upstairs were five bedrooms and three more bathrooms. Marie chose a bedroom facing the back of the house overlooking Lake Geneva.
    They met Jonathan on the sun porch that faced the lake, where he was sitting next to a table holding a pitcher of lemonade and several glasses. “Aren’t you the perfect host, dear?” Claire commented with a sarcastic smile. “I didn’t know you could even make lemonade.”
    “I can’t.”
    The two women looked at each other and then at Jonathan.
    “Ben and Rachael are here.”
    “Oh?” Claire said. “Was there some kind of mix-up?”
    “You could say that. Apparently Ben thought he and Rachael needed to get away for a few days and without telling his parents decided