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“It’s so good to hear from you. But I’m curious, and I have a question, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course, Jakob.”
Swallowing hard, I ask, “Why didn’t you read any of my letters until today?” Almost 15 years is a long time to wait, but I’m not going to judge her. I’m sure she had her reasons.
Josephine inhales sharply. “Oh, I’m so scattered! I should have started from the beginning, Jakob—I never got any of your letters until today.”
“Today?” I repeat, hardly believing this story. But it’s her. The very responsible next-door neighbor. It’s still Josephine.
“Yes, today!” she exclaims.
A lump forms in my throat. “I don’t understand.”
My old friend goes on to explain that after her father moved her to Birmingham upon her mother’s tragic illness and death, he fell in with girlfriends and business partners who helped him go after one scam or another. Josephine went to work at low-wage jobs in order to keep the lights on. Finally, when she’d had enough of her father always asking her to hand over her paychecks so he could help her “invest” in his latest scheme, she left Birmingham altogether. First, she traveled to Cornwall in hopes of living with her mother’s family. No one could take her in, so she traveled around Europe, taking odd jobs and avoiding her father. On a whim, she enrolled in training for the merchant marines and ended up working for a Danish shipping company for eight years. It kept her busy, earned her decent wages, and being at sea helped her avoid people who wanted money from her or from her father. The culture on board those vessels was starting to wear on her by the time she reached 25, so she “washed up in Mirror Lake,” as she puts it, taking any job she could find.
“I’ve moved around so much that the mail took a while to catch up to me,” she says, her voice breaking with guilt and sadness.
“Mirror Lake,” I breathe. Hell, she’s been in the country all this time?
“Yes,” she says, and the silence that follows is fraught with questions. We’ve lived less than four hours apart from each other for years now and never knew it. More questions swirl in my mind, such as why she never received any of my letters in England while she lived there. But we can sort out the facts later.
All that matters now is my friend is back in my life.
“Josephine, I… I want you to know, I shouldn’t have pressured you in the letter to phone me.”
Her soft, shallow breaths on other end of the line make me ache to hold her. After another pause, she speaks, her voice filled with warmth despite her halting now and then to gather her courage.
“I’m glad you did. Because…I want to see you, Jakob. I want to hear every detail about what happened on the Prince’s birthday.”
My shoulders relax, and a small smile tugs at the corners of my lips.
“I’m glad you called, Josephine. There’s so much more to tell you, but I’d much rather listen to you talk.”
A moment of silence follows, and I don’t know if she’s hesitating, if she’s about to cut me off, or if she’s steeling her nerves yet again.
I hope it’s the latter. Gods, I hope it’s the latter.
Her voice comes through, softly, playfully. “Well, how about we meet? I think there’s a lot we need to catch up on. And…I’d like to see your face again, Jakob.”
My heart races at the idea. I’ve been a recluse for so long, the prospect of reconnecting with Jo is both exhilarating and nerve-wracking.
“When? Let’s meet as soon as possible.” I wince at my pushiness. I rarely talk to women other than my housemates, so I don’t know how to behave with Josephine. It feels like we’re setting up a date, and I have to constantly remind myself that this person cares about me.
“Tomorrow’s my day off. I can come to you in the city, or…”
“No,” I say.
“No?”
I’m fucking this up. “I don’t want you to put yourself out. I’ll come to you.”
“It’s a bit of a hassle for you, with the train and then the shuttle. We could compromise and meet in the middle,” she says. “I’ve been meaning to visit Salska to do some shopping anyway.”
She’s smart. Salska will be far from the palace’s guards but large enough that no one knows me there.
I’m stepping out of the shadows, taking a risk. But on the other end of it, Jo will be there. My Josephine.
I prayed for something magical, and something even more magical is out there waiting for me to take it.
