The Ice Bridge by Griffith Kathryn Meyer

Author:Griffith, Kathryn Meyer [Griffith, Kathryn Meyer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781519542298
Google: U-RrDAAAQBAJ
Amazon: B018IXC0YO
Publisher: Kathryn Meyer Griffith
Published: 2015-11-23T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

The day of Hannah’s birthday party was sunny and bright. It’d warmed up to twenty-eight degrees and the snow had ceased for a while.

Thirty-three people, all of them friends and acquaintances of Hannah’s, appeared early for the party and more came and went as the day wore on. There was a birthday cake with eighty candles on it. Only the guest of honor wasn’t there to blow them out.

Most people ate, laughed, and recalled stories, poignant or humorous, about the birthday girl. Charlotte and Bess found it healing to be remembering their friend and to be with others that had cared for her, too.

Hannah had loved parties and she would have loved this one. It was all about her. There were candid pictures of Hannah pasted up on a corkboard put together by Bess and Charlotte: Hannah smiling; Hannah planting roses in her garden; Hannah on Christmas Eve with big shiny bows in her hair; New Year’s Eve with a highball in one hand a spread of winning cards in the other.

The gathering made Bess feel better. She’d had a difficult week, after being out each day looking for Hannah. Honoring Hannah’s life seemed to give her the closure she needed. Charlotte had helped her aunt hunt for Hannah, too, but mostly for her aunt’s benefit. In her heart Charlotte knew Hannah was dead. She would have been back days ago, not wanting to worry them, if she wasn’t.

Mac got to the house early and helped them get ready for their guests. He brought his famous cheesy sausage pasta, extra chairs and a photo album with pictures of Hannah when she’d been younger. He had pictures of her with him when he’d been a boy. There was a photo of a grinning Charlotte, as a girl on her bike, that Mac had saved all those years.

“You remembered me, then, huh?” Charlotte couldn’t get over the fact that he had.

“That first day when you said you were Bess’s niece? I knew who you were right away. I was waiting for you to remember me.”

“It took me a little longer,” she replied, hiding the fact that she hadn’t until Bess had reminded her. “But I remember you now.” They compared stories of when they’d been kids. Charlotte remembered more than she thought she would. The longer she lived on the island the more her memories returned.

“I had a crush on you, Charlotte, did you know that?”

“No.”

“I did. Big time. I used to chase you around town then hide if you looked my way. I didn’t think I was good enough for you. I told Hannah once that when I grew up I was going to get rich and marry you.”

Charlotte laughed but Mac was serious.

The party was going as well as a party for a dead person could. People were reminiscing, eating, and visiting. They were dropping crumbs on the carpets and leaving half-empty plates of food in every open space. They were crying and giggling over humorous Hannah anecdotes and gossiping about people that weren’t there.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.