Page 14 of Meet Me at Christmas
Mary Jo’s chest filled with air. “Thank God he was still himself when that happened. Since the accident, it’s just his recollection of her later years that’s spotty. He remembers most of his life with Mama.”
“So the accident was after…?”
Mary Jo nodded. “Yeah. He’s been very different since. His memory loss has made him angry. I’ve never seen that side of him before. ”
“I know, me neither,” she agreed. Stella had certainly seen him frustrated and defeated at times, but never angry. That wasn’t who he was. Henry had always been patient and kind. But she knew that damage to the brain could cause changes in behavior, including managing anger.
“Want to get a coffee and we can talk in the car?” Stella asked.
“Yeah, that would be nice.”
“I’ll get it warm for us.”
While Mary Jo made her way to the coffee-shop window, Stella slid into the car and started the engine, cranking up the heat. With a shiver, she took a sip of her latte, the creamy, sugary sweetness not improving her mood. She had hoped to sit alone and let it warm her while she tried to clear her mind, but it didn’t look like she would get that chance. Anyway, it would be good to catch up with Mary Jo. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed her.
As she watched her waiting for her coffee, the leftover snow and the dull glow of the sky against the holiday decorations in the daytime had her mind searching for happier times, and she drew upon a memory of the two of them.
* * *
“I made you something for the wedding today,” Mary Jo had said just before Stella jumped into Henry’s truck. Her long, dark curls bounced against her back as she pulled Stella across the field of wildflowers toward the main house.
Running with Mary Jo, Stella was unable to stifle the absolute joy of marrying Henry. It was spontaneous and exciting. The rest of her life had been highly focused, planned out just so in order to manage the huge academic load she carried. Henry had been the more impulsive of the two of them, the one who always pushed her out of her comfort zone and showed her how fun life could be. It was as if he were the opposite piece to her personality puzzle, and when they were matched up, they fit perfectly. She knew that without him, she’d never feel whole.
“Wait here,” Mary Jo said.
Henry’s sister left Stella on the wide front porch of the farmhouse, the screen door clapping shut behind her. Stella’s long, sandy hair and simple white dress billowed in the summer breeze as she stood on the gray-painted boards of the porch that had been under her feet so many times that it felt like home. She’d always wanted to live in that farmhouse. If she closed her eyes, she could imagine her and Henry there with their kids and extended family—all of them together.
Mary Jo returned with a bound bouquet of wildflowers. She handed the purple-and-yellow bunch to Stella. “You can’t get married without a bouquet.”
Stella peered down at the grouping of flowers—bluebells, blazing star, buttercups, and chicory—tied with a wide strip of white satin to match her dress. She ran her fingers through the big loopy bow and put the flowers to her nose, inhaling the smell of her childhood.
“That ribbon is actually my mama’s scarf that she wears to church,” Mary Jo said. “She doesn’t know I took it.” Mary Jo clapped an excited hand over her mouth.
“Thank you,” Stella said, hugging the bouquet and realizing then that soon Mary Jo would be her sister. The older girl had always been like a big sister to Stella, and she couldn’t have asked for a better send-off.
“When are you and Henry gonna tell Mama?”
They hadn’t told either of their parents, both of them worried they’d be talked out of it, given their young ages, but Stella knew it was right. She didn’t need anyone telling her otherwise. “I promise we’ll tell everyone as soon as we get back.”
Mary Jo nodded, her eyes sparkling. “Go! Start your forever!” She gave Stella a playful nudge just as the horn on Henry’s old Chevy honked in three little beeps.
“When I come back, we’ll officially be family,” Stella said, her heart wanting to burst. She leaned over and gave her soon-to-be sister a kiss on the cheek. Then, with all her dreams ahead of her, she ran off toward the love of her life.
* * *
Stella emerged from her memory to find Mary Jo on the passenger side, shifting her cup to her other hand and opening the door.
She slid inside and shut them in. “Good grief, it’s freezing.”
“I know. Good thing we’ve got coffee,” Stella said, keenly aware that was the last of the pleasantries they had to share and it was time for the conversation to move to more difficult topics. She took a long drink of the warm liquid to center herself.
“I missed you,” Mary Jo said, jumping right in. “It’s been awful living in that big farmhouse all by myself. It’s so good to have you back.”
Without warning, tears sprang to Stella’s eyes. Not because she’d missed Mary Jo, but because she hadn’t allowed herself to until this moment. “I’m sorry.” The words came out on a breath that felt as if she’d been holding it for the last thirteen years.
“You left without even a goodbye.”
Stella fiddled with her coffee lid absentmindedly, the pain of that day feeling like a fresh wound. “I just couldn’t, Mary Jo.”
