Page 23 of Memories of the Past

It was the moment that I caught sight of her lip twitching as her eyes danced at my question.Was she actually enjoying watching me suffer as I ate this mess?I wondered as I wiped my brow again, this time with my napkin.

Shoving another forkful into my mouth, my stomach churned. There was so much flour, and I seriously didn’t know how much more I would be able to eat. I had barely put a dent into what sat on my plate, and my stomach was already turning. With my hand shaking, I wiped my brow again and then brought another mouthful up to my lips.

“All right! That’s enough.” Trinity said, standing up.

“What?” I asked, shocked at her outburst.

“Do you want to die?” she said, ripping the fork from my hand and dropping it down onto my plate. “You’ll end up with heartburn for days on end, you silly man.”

I dropped my fork down on the plate and grabbed my milk and drank it down, chuckling as I wiped my face with a napkin. “Well, without you, Trin, I have no reason to live.”

“Oh please,” she said as she pulled the plate away from me and took it over to the sink. She opened the cupboard where my mother kept the garbage pail and dumped the contents into the bag. “If that were truly the case, you never would have left me in the first place.”

I chugged down some milk and stood up, moving toward Trinity. “You know I was just a stupid kid when that happened. Cut me a little slack, would you?” I placed my hands on either side of her body as I leaned against the counter, blocking her in.

“Slack?” she said, turning abruptly so she could look me directly in the eyes. I could feel the heat from her body, could smell the scent of her perfume and my body responded accordingly. “Take all the slack you want, Thomas. It’s time for me to go.” She slipped right out from under me and headed out the front door.

I ran after her and out the front door. “Trinity, come on, let’s talk about this,” I called, quickly catching up to her. I was just about to her when she stopped and turned toward me.

“There isn’t anything to talk about,” she bit out.

“Isn’t there? I beg to differ. I can tell that something has been weighing on your mind since I walked into the bookstore. You and I both know you’ll feel better if you get it off your chest. Say what you want to say and get it over with. Let’s just clear the air between us and move on.”

Trinity looked at me, then looked away, letting out a breath. She wanted to say something, I knew she did, and I would eventually get it out of her. I stood there, my hands on my hips, waiting.

“Okay, fine, I have one question.”

“All right, and I might have an answer for you,” I said, waiting.

“Did you ever hear anything about Jed ever dating anyone when he was younger?” she questioned.

I frowned. “Jed? As in Jed Hawkins?” I asked, standing there completely confused.

Trinity nodded her head, looking at me with curiosity.

Where was that coming from, I wondered. I was sure Jed had dated many women; however, with him being so much older than I was, he certainly wouldn’t have confided in me. I shook my head. “Not to my knowledge. I know he was married sometime later in life, but never heard anything about him dating. Why?”

Trinity didn’t answer me. Instead, she walked over to the car and opened the driver’s door. She bent down and reached into the car and dug around in frantic search of something.

“Trinity, come on,” I called, feeling more and more frustrated. “Can you please tell me what this is about?” I’d wanted to talk about us, to clear the air about us, not talk about Jed Hawkins.

“This is why.” She stood up, a couple of strands of hair falling into her face. She walked around the car and shoved a familiar looking book in my direction.

“What’s this?” I asked, taking the book from her and flipping it over in my hand.

“That is the book you returned to me. Aunt Vi’s journal. I read it.”

I looked at Trinity. She wore an uncomfortable expression on her face. “Okay. So, like I told you, I glanced at a few parts myself.”

“Well, I think she and Jed dated,” she whispered to me as if someone else were going to hear.

“So, what if they did,” I whispered back.

Trinity looked at me and shook her head as if I should have understood what she was trying to tell me. Instead, she just looked at me, climbed in her car, and started the engine. I was about to hand the book back to her, but she shook her head. “Just read it. All of it, because you clearly only read a little bit of it!” she yelled and backed the car up. “Let me know what your thoughts are.”

I watched as her car drove down the driveway, kicking up dust as it went. She was right. I’d only read a couple of passages, and once I’d seen that Vi had been hurt as well, I’d hoped to show Trinity that she hadn’t been the only one. I’d had no idea who the man was or even what had happened between the two of them. It hadn’t felt right to snoop.

As soon as her car was completely out of sight, I flipped the book back over in my hands. I climbed the stairs and went back inside the house. I poured a cup of coffee and slipped two sugars in and then made my way back out to the front porch. Taking a sip of the coffee, I looked out over the empty fields. I still had no idea what I was going to do with the ranch, but I had time to figure it out. I blew out a deep breath, took another sip of coffee, and opened the book, starting at page one.

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