A Seahorse in the Thames by Susan Meissner

Author:Susan Meissner
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, Women’s fiction, Suspense, Contemporary, Inspirational
ISBN: 9781937573447
Publisher: Greenbrier Book Company
Published: 2012-02-08T11:00:00+00:00

Eleven

I leave my place a little before nine, peeking in on Priscilla and Isabel on my way out. They are both in deep sleep. Isabel’s curly head is just touching Priscilla’s right shoulder. Clement’s head is under Isabel’s chin; eyes open, as if he is staring at the ceiling.

Having the stitches removed hurts less than I thought it would. Dr. Chou seems pleased with how my incision is healing. He tells me I can now start doing very simple range-of-motion exercises. Small arm circles at first with my elbow bent, then larger circles with a straight arm. He also tells me what he has already told me before: He wants to see me at three-month intervals for the next year to make sure the tumor does not make a reappearance.

I leave the clinic feeling very unworthy of such a trouble-free prognosis. It is so very different than Stephen’s. It doesn’t seem fair. Stephen seems like such a nice man. He doesn’t deserve this. But then who does deserve cancer?

The drive to Mount Helix takes only twenty minutes. Traffic on I-8 is manageable at 10 AM and I am soon winding my way up the hills of my old neighborhood. I haven’t been up here since I helped Mom move out the summer I graduated from college. All the trees seem taller, but other than that, the neighborhood hasn’t changed all that much.

Arriving at the curb of my old house fills me with a sense of nostalgia that surprises me. I loved this house. It is set at an angle with an inviting curved drive that is lined with Italian cypress trees and verbena bushes. A tall jacaranda tree still commands attention at the center of the smallish lawn. Peach-toned bougainvilleas adorn the west side and the little rose garden that Priscilla and I created when we were eleven is still thriving on the south side.

It was a house of many happy memories. I think sometimes Priscilla, my mom and even my dad, forget this because the sad ones were so extreme.

My parents bought his house when Rebecca was about a year old. Dad had started a new job with an electronics company that had just landed several multi-million dollar contracts with the Department of Defense. The new job was a quite a step up for my dad. I think it nearly doubled their income. For a creative outlet, Mom got a part-time job as an event planner for the convention center, downtown. My parents made many new friends and began attending a local Methodist church, though not regularly. When Rebecca turned three, my parents learned Mom was expecting another baby. Julian was born three weeks early, but with no other visible complications until the cord was cut and he was expected to manage his own circulatory system. His tiny heart was impossibly malformed. A heart-transplant probably could have saved him but he died before one could be located.

Mom and Dad hardly ever spoke of Julian. The knowledge of I possess

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