Harlow had been working on the same details in her latest portrait commission, trying to capture the glint in their eyes just right, and she could feel the familiar ache of overworking beginning to grow between her shoulders. And then, as if on cue, she heard the lyrical tune of the doorbell echoing through the house.
“I’ll be there in a second!”
She dropped her brush onto the sheet below the easel and hurriedly wiped at a smudge of paint on the side of her forearm before making her way to the front door. As she walked, she wondered if maybe Michael had left work early, but when she opened the door she was faced with a total stranger.
“Is Michael here? I was told that this is where he lives now.”
“No, I’m sorry, he’s at work. Are you a friend of his? You’re welcome to come in and wait for him, he shouldn’t be long.”
The woman followed her into the kitchen and took a seat at the barstool. In hindsight, Harlow realised that inviting a stranger into their home wasn’t something people did outside Selvadorada, but Michael would be home before long.
“Can I get you anything? Iced tea?”
“You really don’t know who I am, do you?”
The woman stared at Harlow, and Harlow could see in her eyes that the realisation that she was a stranger to Harlow had hurt her. Maybe they’d met at a party after a few drinks? Harlow was terrible putting faces to names.
“I’m sorry, I… Are you a friend of his parents?”
She looked down at her lap, and Harlow could see the slow patter of tears begin to darken her jeans before she looked back up at Harlow and forced a half-smile.
“I guess you could say that. I’m his sister, Anna.”
Harlow felt as though her stomach had dropped through to the floor.
“His sister? He never -”
“Never mentioned me? I suppose he never mentioned our brother, either? His niece and nephews?”
Anna crossed her arms, as though she was trying to hold herself together, but Harlow could hear the breaking in her voice when she spoke, and she knew that wouldn’t be enough. She had to help fix this, whatever happened.
“Whatever happened, I’m sure we can work it out when Michael gets home?”
“He has been shutting us out of his life for years. If it wasn’t for that show you met on, I don’t think he’d have even started talking to our parents again. He’s always wanted so badly to be his own person and we always tried to give him space, only now he doesn’t even respond when we reach out to him. And then to find out from a magazine that my little brother is getting married? I just… I wanted to come here, to confront him, but I don’t even know if that would matter. I don’t think we matter to him anymore.”
And with that, any strength Katherine still had to hold herself together was gone and she was inconsolable, every wrenching sob tugging at Harlow’s heartstrings. She walked over and wrapped her arms around her, feeling a tear of her own slide down her cheek.
“I’m so, so sorry. I’m sure there’s an explanation for all of this. Would you like to stay for dinner? He’ll be home soon, and we can sit down and -”
“You’re sweet, Harlow. And my brother is lucky to have you. But finding out that he wants to spend his life with you and hasn’t even mentioned us? It’s made it clear that we have no place in his future. And I will always love him, no matter what, but I can’t keep putting myself through this. I’m sorry, I have to go.”
She was on her feet and out of the house in an instant, and Harlow was left to try and make sense of everything she’d said. And, more importantly, to work out how to ask the love her life why he kept so much of his life secret all this time.
