City Of Lies by January Bain

Author:January Bain [Bain, January]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-04-16T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

A FAMILY LEGACY

CLAIRE WATCHED Jake stride down the sidewalk toward her, his short dark hair being yanked at by the merciless devil wind. She dropped her cigarette and ground it beneath the toe of her shoe. The moment was at hand and all she felt was numb. Confused. Worried she’d been on a wild goose chase that would not end well.

When he stood before her, he gave her a quick look before speaking. “I have good news and bad. The woman who lives in this house is your great-grandmother, Alma Mary Clarin. She lives alone. Your only other known living relative, her brother, lives in San Francisco. She hasn’t seen your mother, Fiona, since she heard she was pregnant with you. Fiona’s mother’s name is Ruth. Apparently, Ruth didn’t take well to having a pregnant, unmarried daughter. And I’m sorry, but Ruth died a few years back.”

She held up a hand. “Stop, please. I need a moment.” She took a few deep breaths and blinked away the sudden rush of hot tears that threatened to engulf her.

“I’m sorry about what happened to your mother, Claire.”

“Me too. I can’t imagine how alone she must have felt, her own mother not being willing to help out when she most needed it.”

“We can still continue the search for her. She’s got to be somewhere. She might have married, changed her name.” The search had just become far more difficult if her own family was a dead end.

“If she hasn’t come home in over two decades, I don’t know.” She shook her head. “I may have to face the fact she might be gone. For good.”

“You don’t know that. She might have felt that she was being driven away, and never forgave her family. It happens. Family splits are the hardest to heal. We often expect too much of the familial connection.”

“Maybe.” She took a ragged breath. “Okay. I got this.”

“Good. I’ll wait here.”

“Thank you.”

Claire made herself walk forward until she reached the front door. She was about to knock when it swung wide open. A tiny birdlike woman who looked to be ninety if she was a day peered up at her. Her wrinkled face was wreathed in smiles. “Claire, is it? I’m Alma. Your great-grandmother. Come in, dear.”

Breathing easier, she stepped inside. The tiny woman immediately moved forward and hugged her tightly about the waist, her hands patting her as lightly as butterfly wings. She carefully hugged the woman back. The fragrance of lilacs and baby powder that entered her nostrils with each breath taken filled her with nostalgia for an earlier time.

She followed her great-grandmother into the living room and took a seat on the sofa, its stiff brown horsehide cover odd and unsettling beneath her. The woman took a seat in the rocking chair and began to rock slowly back and forth. Her hands lay quiet in her lap, worn and twisted with care.

“Now, my dear, I want to know all about you. What brought you here today?”

Claire took a deep breath and it all spilled out of her like a cleansing rain.

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