Where Memories Await by Heidi Chiavaroli

Author:Heidi Chiavaroli [Chiavaroli, Heidi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781733577991
Publisher: Heidi Chiavaroli

10

Present

It’s close to eleven before Maggie and Josh take their leave with the boys. Everyone departs until only Hannah, Josie, Tripp, and I linger by the light of the tree. The Nativity scene is centered beneath it, alongside a small mound of presents for the following morning.

Ed’s earlier question dances at the recesses of my mind.

Are you going to make me go to my grave not knowing what happened those months I was in the army?

Should I have answered him? There was still so much between us, and my mind seems bent on dwelling on the past tonight.

From her spot on the floor, Josie rubs Amos’s back where he lies cuddled on a blanket by the tree. She smiles up at me. “Will you finish your story, Aunt Pris?”

“Oh, girl. It’s late.”

“Please? I—I can’t stop thinking about my grandmother. I—in some ways I see myself in her.”

I think of Josie coming home pregnant last spring, broken over her failure and still grieving her father. The family had supported her. If only Hazel’s story had turned out more like my niece’s.

Tripp stretches his long frame out on the floor, and I see a glimpse of Ed’s younger self in the relaxed way he puts his arms behind his head. “Yeah, Aunt Pris. There’s nothing that could make this night more perfect than hearing about you and Grandpop.”

“Perhaps you should ask him then, young man.”

“I have. He said he wishes he knew what happened back then more than anyone. It’s a mystery—I didn’t realize how much until tonight.” Tripp leans back on the area rug, propping an arm beneath his head. Clearly, the boy doesn’t plan on going anywhere.

“Okay, what am I missing here?” Hannah inches forward on the couch, clasping her hands over a beautiful maroon dress I’ve never seen her wear.

“Aunt Pris was telling me about her and Ed Colton. And our grandmother, Hazel,” Josie says.

I don’t miss the widening of Hannah’s gaze, settling on me. “Oh, Pris. I’ve never heard the whole story. Amos didn’t know much about his mother.”

“He asked me once, and I put him off. When he didn’t press me, I thought we both might be better for it.”

Hannah nods. “That sounds about right. I think part of him didn’t want to know about his birth mother. Part of him was hurt that—” She stops short, and a stab of regret washes through me.

Truly, why have I agreed to open the doors of the past on this Christmas Eve night?

I sniff, hard. Open my mouth, slow. “He was hurt I didn’t take him in.”

Hannah comes to my side. “Aunt Pris, I shouldn’t have…I mean, he never outright said anything. You know he loved Rita and George. They took him in and loved him like their own. I couldn’t imagine more devoted parents.”

I bite my lip, think to brush over the comment and the topic of conversation. But tonight seems the night for dealing with history. If I could only make Hannah and Josie understand.

“Do you think I didn’t want to take him in?” I hardly recognize my voice, wavering with vulnerability.

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.