Page 102 of Mind Games

“I was a year younger when I moved into mine.”

“Different for you, darling. He wanted that travel, and he got it.”

“And actually ate those snails.”

“More a matter of pride, you ask me, than enjoyment. Now, I’m not saying he hasn’t gotten some spoiled having good meals regular, but he’s a big help to me. He more than earns his pancakes. And he’s a sociable sort. You need your quiet and your space. He’ll build when it’s time for it.”

“I miss having Miss Leona down the lane. Miss just knowing she was there, puttering around her house, sitting in her chair with her knitting.

“You haven’t heard anything about what’s happening with her house?”

“Not a thing, not yet. But I think it takes time, all the lawyer business takes time. All I heard is the great-grandson’s got a little boy, maybe four? Four or five, and no wife to help share that with.”

“She never talked about family much. The great-grandson more, but still … Except how he made sure she came for Christmas, and he came to visit when he could, called her every week, and saw she didn’t do without anything.”

“If he ever comes around, I hope he appreciates how good you were to her.”

“We were neighbors.”

“I know you did her marketing this last year, and saw she had company when she wanted it. Rem, too, seeing her lawn got mowed, doing repairs for her.”

“He did it for the cookies. I miss her cookies. She never failed to have them ready.”

“She’s with George now. He came to see her often in her last months. She told me,” Lucy added when Thea looked at her. “But she didn’t have to. I could feel him around her during that time. She was ready to go, to let go and move on. Having George close made it easy for her.”

“Do you ever feel Mom?”

“Oh, darling, all the time. My sweet little girl, my beautiful young woman. Your daddy, too, as he was mine. And it comforts me.”

“I never went back to the house in Virginia. I knew what happened that night would block out everything else we had there. But when I see them or feel them, it’s always here, on the little farm. And they’re always together. That comforts me.

“Now I’ve got to get on.”

“Rem’ll be home for supper. You could stay.”

“Not today. I gave myself the morning, but I’ve got work, and I know you do. I have to run into town tomorrow, so if you need anything, let me know.”

She rose. “Come on, Bunk, time to go.” Leaning down, she hugged Lucy hard. “You and Rem come down Saturday, if he doesn’t have a date, and have supper at my place. It happens I have my grammie’s secret fried chicken recipe, and I’m in the mood.”

“We’ll be there. I’ll bring dessert.”

Thea started down the road, the dog beside her. At nearly two, Bunk (short for Rambunctious) stood over two feet tall, weighed in at close to a hundred twenty pounds. A strong tricolored mountain with a joyful disposition.

He trotted along beside her, waving his bushy, white-tipped tail.

While training him had been a challenge, he was, to Thea’s mind, as perfect a companion as she could wish for.

When she stroked a hand over his head, he looked up at her with big brown eyes full of love. As if he considered her the perfect companion in turn.

“It’s a pretty afternoon, right? But I’ve got to spend some of it in the studio.”

She felt clearer, as she always did after a visit to her grandmother. And the walk, to and from, never failed to energize her.

A summer afternoon, everything blue and green. The hills rising, wildflowers blooming. Clothes at her grandmother’s nearest neighbors’ hanging on the line.

If she didn’t have work, she’d sit out on her own porch and just enjoy the day with her dog. Later, she promised herself, in the evening. Porch sitting with a glass of wine, watching her garden grow.

As she walked, she pulled the tie she’d used during the soap-making out of her hair. As the hair fell around her shoulders, she laughed as Bunk began to sniff the air.

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