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There was a short silence She could hear the distant clatter of pots in the kitchen The light breeze off the bay shifted tree branches in the corner of the garden Birds chattered overhead

"Sullivan and me, we decided maybe you were just curious," Mitchell said after a while

"It was more than mere curiosity," she said quietly "I should probably start at the beginning"

"If that's what you want to do"

She hesitated, looking for the right place to begin "I iththe last couple of years of her life She needed someone to take care of her and there wasn't anyone else Aunt Claudia was not the most popular member of the family"

"Hell, I didn't even realize she had a faade The black sheep The one as always a source of acute embarrassment But I had always liked her a lot And she liked me Maybe it was because I looked so much like her Or maybe she just felt sorry for me"

"Why would she feel sorry for you?"

"I think she saw me as a loner, just as she was My parents divorced when I was small They both remarried and started new fa back and forth between them but I never felt at home in either house Aunt Claudia sensed that, I think"

"Go on"

"Claudia was very special to me I know she had her faults, and her business ethics left a lot to be desired But I loved her and she cared about me in her oay She worried that I was too inclined to play it safe She said I spent too s over and cal me to take a few chances"

"She sure kne to take 'em" Mitchell chuckled reminiscently "Maybe that was one of the reasons I couldn't take ot you, Mitch When she became seriously ill, I went to stay with her until the end It took over a year for her to die We had a lot of tis you two talked about was Eclipse Bay? Is that what you're saying?"

"Yes She becaly obsessed hat had happened here Said she didn't have a lot of regrets, but the destruction of Harte-Madison was one of them She talked about how she wished that she could o back and fix soo," Mitchell said

"I know But the subject became more and more important to her Maybe because toward the end she becae metaphysics She talked a lot about karma and auras and such At any rate, she asked s stood She wantedI could do to repair soe she had done"

"Well, shoot and damn" Mitchell whistled softly "So that's why you showed up here in town late last summer?"

"Yes But shortly after I arrived, Rafe and Hannah returned and fell in love and etting serious about each other I turned around one day and you and Sullivan were having coffee together at the bakery" She shtly "It has become very clear that the feud is a relic of the past The Hartes and the Madisons don't need ain Thoughtful now

She cleared her throat "So, I feel that it's tio"

"Just like that? You plan to slip out of town and disappear into the sunset?"

"It isn't that siallery And then there's the Children's Art Show"

"Loose ends"

"Yes"

"I don't like it," Mitchell said flatly