Bette had been to the cabin before so she knew a walking trail with several spots along the way where they could sit near the water to talk. Bette selected one next to a huge shaded tree and laid one of the blankets on the ground. She sat with her back against the tree and beckoned Tina to sit facing her. She wanted them to have eye contact during the discussion. Bette pulled the letter from the backpack and spoke before she handed it to Tina to read.

“Tee I wanted to talk to you about the contents of this letter.”

“What’s it about?”

“I’ll let you read it for yourself, but it’s from Peggy Peabody. It came in the mail last week, while we were in Monterey. I read it on Monday once I was back in the office. It was accompanied by some other documents which she references in the letter. You know Peggy was out of the country incommunicado for most of the time that Helena was wreaking havoc on everyone’s lives.”

“I wasn’t really aware of it at the time, but you’ve mentioned it.”

“Well she got back a couple of years ago and was confronted not only with the malicious intent of Helena’s actions but also the news that her devilish daughter had misappropriated Peabody monies to fund them. When I first read the letter I thought it was some kind of payoff. The Peabody’s are known to do that, especially where Helena is concerned. However I spoke to Peggy on Monday and she’s assured me that it isn’t. She’s not trying to cover up what Helena did nor is she protecting her. She regrets that it’s been so many years but she still feels somewhat responsible for the whole mess. She couldn’t just let it go by unacknowledged. This is her way of doing something. It’s a gift to us. We’d be doing her a personal favor by accepting it as such with no strings attached.”

Tina was still in the dark as to the actual contents of the letter, but if it had anything to do with Helena during the time that they dated then she knew it was going to be difficult to bring it up again. She probably had no right but she was hurt that Bette hadn’t told her about the letter and the conversation with Peggy sooner.