It was a wonderful day. The birthday party marking Kelly's 18th year saw the inclusion of all her friends from high school and many of her brother's friends from work. Kelly was so happy. She was wearing the perfect dress and her hair was done just right. It was the most perfect day ever with the most perfect decorations up in the field behind their home. The cake was her favorite kind and she got so many presents she wasn't sure she'd be able to open them all.
After the party was over Kelly walked with her friends into town to get ice cream and maybe look at the young men walking about in the town center. The sun was just about to go down when she returned home and her brother and his employees had already cleaned everything up. One of the horses got loose and the two of the men went running after it.
Kelly sat and started lighting the candles in the sitting room so she could tell her brother about the most perfect earrings she saw and how they would just go so perfectly with...
Kelly's brother raised his hand to stop her. It was then that Kelly noticed that her brother had lost his joyful demeanor from earlier.
"I should have done this in the morning but I didn't want to ruin your party."
He handed her a manila folder with some documents in it. Kelly opened it and saw several things written on legal size paper with the bottoms folded up.
"You're 18 now. You're a grown woman. As of today you are no longer my ward. I am no longer legally responsible for you. So if you want to leave then you leave."
"I never asked to..."
"And if you want to stay then you do so because that's what you choose."
"Where would I go?"
"You're an adult. Wherever you want. No one is stopping you or holding you back."
"Do you want me to go?"
"I didn't say that. I'm just letting you know that the legal obligation that we both had to each other is now over. Those documents are yours now."
"What should I do with them?"
"Keep them. Burn them. I don't care."
Kelly looked down and saw there written in big block letters on the page the details of her parents' death and how a judge had ordered a seven year old girl to be put in the charge of her 22 year old brother and his wife.
She wasn't seven anymore. She was 18 and her brother was now 33. He was no longer married either. Kelly could barely remember her brother's wife. She was the woman with dark hair. She remembered her brother arguing with her over something but Kelly didn't know what it was. Then she just didn't see the woman around anymore. According to the documents his wife was supposed to have been just as much legally responsible for Kelly as her brother was.
But now it didn't matter. Kelly was 18. No one was legally responsible for her except for herself. She honestly hadn't thought about that aspect of it. She was just looking forward to her party and then looking forward to summer. She hadn't even given a thought to what she would do with her adult life. She supposed she was on the lookout for a man to fall in love with and maybe get married. She wondered if suitors would come calling on her now. She couldn't imagine.
That momentary instant of seriousness didn't last long. The next morning she was back to her old self, carefree and innocent. But the conversation stayed with her. If she moved out because she got married or because she just didn't want to stay anymore, what all would she bring with her. She made a little game in her mind out of mentally labeling everything in the house as either hers or her brother's. She went through almost everything and was done far sooner than she wanted to be. She wanted to keep playing.
Her brother was of course not in the house to help her since he'd gone to work. She used all her strength to pull down the ladder that went up to the attic. There were lots of things stored up there she could label.
The game went completely out of her mind when she discovered what an absolute treasure trove the attic was. There were so many things up there that brought back so many memories.
She was sitting and looking at some old photos when she noticed a box under a sheet. She pulled the sheet away to discover a chest. It had a lock on it but the lock had not been fastened all the way.
It was such a curious thing. She'd never seen it before. Why was there a lock on it? Did that mean her brother hadn't wanted her to see it or open it? It wasn't like him to keep secrets.
She took the lock from its place and lifted the latch. Then she opened the chest. What she found inside confused her at first. There were photos of women and many pairs of panties with strips of paper stapled to them. Each strip had a woman's name on it and Kelly knew some of those names.
Also inside the chest were several notebooks. The notebooks had tab markers in them with names on them.
What did all this mean?
Joanna. Kelly saw a pair of panties that belonged to Joanna. Could it be Joanna Collins? What was the meaning of this? Kelly cycled through the pictures of women, so many of whom she knew, and she found the photo of Mrs. Collins. Why did her brother have this?
She looked at the notebooks and found Joanna's name on one of the tabs and began reading.
...
November 25th.
I met Joanna by the big oak where you could see the river empty into the sea. She tried to hide it but she was happy to see that I'd kept to what I'd said.
"I shouldn't be here." she told me.
"Why not? Why can't women have just as much fun as men?"
"I'm getting married tomorrow."
"You keep saying that. But you know Henry has been with other women."
She looked away from me. Her red hair glowed in the dying light of the sun. Her skin was almost milk white. She bit her bottom lip and looked away from me. I couldn't believe she still needed convincing. She'd come all the way here and yet I had to hold her hand the rest of the way.
I brought her fingers to my lips and I kissed the back of them. That got a smile from her. I didn't let her go. Next I brought her close to me and put her hand of my cock. She felt it through my pants.
"It's true." she said.
"Indeed. Have I ever lied to you?"