Booktree.ng_Forgotten-Witness

“No, his silence. When you were a grown woman, you
would think he’d share something. If you had grown up a silly
cow perhaps not, but you were a lawyer and quite a successful
one,” Stephen pointed out.
“You checked me out,” Josie teased.
“It was the least I could do,” Stephen laughed. “I must say
you’ve been involved in some interesting things. Come out the
other end rather nicely. Well done.”
“Thanks.” She lifted her water glass in a mock toast then
cocked her arm and put her chin in her other hand. “I suppose
I should have asked my dad straight out. We weren’t like that.
We were military. Take a hit; suck it up.”
“Heavens, you make the English look like blubbering fools.
Your upper lip is so stiff as to be granite,” Stephen barked. He
took a drink, and added: “Must have been bloody hard for you
both.”
“It was what it was.” There was a beat in which Josie lost
herself and then she shared the moment. “I wish he could have
seen her once more. I would know what to do if I could have
seen how he reacted.”
Stephen said, “If caring is what you feel then you take one
road. If you don’t care, you go another.”
“And if I’m just curious? Is that valid?” Josie asked.
“If you were simply curious you wouldn’t be sitting there
with your hand wrapped up like a mummy.”
“I suppose,” she mumbled.
“You must have some things left from your father,” Stephen
said. “Why not look through them.”
“Maybe,” she shrugged.
“Well, that’s what I would do soon as I got home,” Stephen
scoffed. “Never know what you’ll find in the attic.”
Behind her, Josie heard the scraping of chairs. She looked
over her shoulder. A large table was finishing up dinner and