Bittersweet in the Hollow by Kate Pearsall

Author:Kate Pearsall [Pearsall, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2023-10-10T00:00:00+00:00

Maybe it’s the lingering effects of Bryson’s hateful comments earlier today, but the note feels downright ominous. What exactly was Zephyrine researching that had given her such concerns? Was it a philosophical question or one more specific to our family? Something else is scratching at the back of my mind, too. Nora. Could it be Nora McCoy? How did Zephyrine know her, and why was she apologizing?

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

WHEN I step into the kitchen the next morning, I find Gran alone, sitting at the table with a pail on the floor between her feet. Two bowls sit in front of her, one full of freshly picked sugar pea pods, the other of shelled peas. She slides her thumb along the seam of each pod to split it open, then down along the inside in one smooth motion, each perfect little round pea falling into the bowl before she drops the empty pod into the bucket on the floor.

I slip into the chair next to hers and grab a pea pod from the pail at her feet, crunching into the chewy skin. I’ve always preferred the sweetness of the pods to the mushy texture of the peas themselves, except in the spring when Gran mixes them in her big pot with new potatoes and fresh cream.

“It don’t cost nothing to help,” Gran chides gently.

I reach into one bowl for a pea pod and shell it into the other, my motions not nearly as smooth and practiced as hers. “Gran, can I ask you about Aunt Zephyrine?”

“I saw that you put away her dress. Thank you for that.” She shells two peas for every one of mine, even though she’s barely paying attention to the work her hands are doing.

“I’m sorry it made you sad when I wore it.” I consider mentioning the note I found in the pocket, but I don’t want to upset her again when it doesn’t really change anything. It won’t bring Aunt Zephyrine back.

Gran sighs as she tosses another empty pod into the bucket on the floor. “It’s not your fault, honey. You looked beautiful in that dress, and it’s plain foolish of me to keep those things tucked away up there doing no good for anyone.”

“Why do you, then?”

“Because of guilt, I reckon,” she admits. Her eyes go distant, and I can tell she’s thinking about her sister. “Zephyrine always did things her own way. Her and Sissy are like two peas in a pod in that.” She gestures with the pea pod in her hand. “And so curious, always learning something new. That’s why she went to work at the library.”

Gran shifts in her chair, settling in, and her fingers slow a bit. “She was quite a few years younger than I was, so we weren’t close in the way you and your sisters are. I think she always felt like I was trying to boss her, which I probably was. And I always felt like she was too much of a dreamer, refusing to see sense sometimes.

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