Page 20 of Lost Memories (Secrets of Mackinac Island 1)

Chapter Nine

Elise decided to headto her mother’s bedroom for the first round of organizing. A few months ago, Penny had informed her of a decluttering concept introduced by Marie Kondo – you were meant to ask yourself if something “sparked joy” for you. If it did, you kept it; if it didn’t, you tossed it out. Elise wanted to head forward with this tool in mind. When she first opened her mother’s closet, however, her knees gave way and that same smell overwhelmed her. How could she possibly say what sparked joy and what didn’t—when everything wrapped her in the long-lost smell of her mother?

Still, Elise was stubborn. Even if she hadn’t been, she supposed this was the only task she had at hand. What else would she do this day? Stay home, blink again at the script that hadn’t sold, consider groveling to the likes of Courtney and Rex to see what she could get for the screenplay, after all? No.

Slowly, she drew out various dresses and blouses from the eighties, nineties, and two-thousands. Allison’s style had been constantly playful, occasionally provocative, and sometimes on the cutting-edge. In the far end of the closet, Elise found the gorgeous black dress Allison had worn to the premiere of her long-most-famous film. Elise dragged it out and splayed it across the bed. Her hands stretched over her own waist. Was it possible that it would fit her?

With a jolt of energy, Elise tugged off her t-shirt and jeans and had herself in that tight-fitting, low-cut beast of a dress in no time. She blinked at herself in the mirror, overwhelmed with memories of her mother in that very dress. Naturally, Allison had taken Elise to the premier—although Elise’s dress had been cast out long ago.

Suddenly, there was a clucking sound from behind her. Elise whipped around with a shriek to find Penny in the doorway. She’d dragged her ponytail upward so that it bobbed down her neck, and she looked mischievous and pleased with herself, probably because she’d caught her mother in the act of trying on the old dress.

“What are you doing here, missy?” Elise asked, stabbing her hands on her hips.

“And what are you doing in Grandma’s dress?” Penny asked with an eyebrow arched.

Elise felt her cheeks burn bright. “I just wanted to see...”

“If it fit you?” Penny asked. “Well, it does. You look like a movie star. Seriously.”

“Well, I’m not. I’m not even a screenwriter anymore,” Elise said. She swallowed, and then added, “I thought you would still be with your father in Silver Lake?”

“We were halfway through lunch when I realized I didn’t want you to clean out Grandma’s house alone,” Penny admitted.

Elise’s heart swelled. “That’s silly. You should have stayed.”

“I don’t think they minded. Regina probably didn’t even notice I left; she was so obsessed with whatever story she was telling.”

Elise snorted, then dropped to the edge of the bed. “I didn’t mean to laugh.”

“You did, though,” Penny said. Then, after a pause, she said, “Okay. I don’t want you to have all the fun. Let me have a dress.”

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