Page 44 of Memories of the Past

I stood there, feeling a little shocked on the inside at her apology. I’d always thought Brooke had been after Thomas, and I am sure at one time perhaps she was, which is why our friendship had weakened.

“It’s fine, Brooke. Thank you both for looking out for me. I appreciate it.” I swallowed hard and grabbed the bag of fritters from Brooke and handed her a twenty. “Keep the change. I’ll see you next week.”

“They are on the house. You enjoy them. Say hello to Vi for me,” Brooke said, refusing to the bill from me.

“Thanks, Brooke.”

The drive out to the retirement residence was quiet—just me and the loud, annoying thoughts in my own head of Thomas. I’d turned on the radio, anything to try and drown out my own thoughts. The other night I’d asked him to come and see Aunt Vi with me. I didn’t want her worrying about me, and at this moment, I was glad I decided against it. I could only imagine what the tension would be like in this car and throughout the day had he been sitting beside me.

I walked through the halls finally coming to Aunt Vi’s room. I glanced in and saw that she was sitting by the window, working on another cross-stitch. I couldn’t help but watch her face; the expression was one of pure concentration. As I studied her longer, I worried that it wasn’t concentration I saw but pure sadness. I wondered if she was lonely.

“Hey, Aunt Vi!” I called, holding up the bag that held the fritters and dangling it between my fingers.

“Hi, Pet. What is that you brought me?” she asked, looking up at me.

“You know exactly what it is. Those apple fritters from Brooke’s bakery. She’d just made a fresh batch this morning, and I knew I had to grab them when I saw them.”

“Oh, I figured you would have forgotten,” she said, setting aside her cross-stitch and crossing her hands in her lap.

“Wouldn’t be like me to forget something that important.” I smiled. “Oh, and I brought you something else,” I said, reaching into my bag to produce the journal I’d found. I held it out for Aunt Vi to take. “I forgot it the last couple of times I came.”

A soft smile came to her lips as she looked down at the journal I held in my hand. I could tell she recognized it instantly. She reached out and took it from my hand, her warm, soft fingers grazing mine. I watched as she ran her fingers over the leather cover, then opened the inside and looked down at the writing. Then she muttered something to herself that I couldn’t hear and closed the book, setting it beside her.

“Have a seat, Pet,” Aunt Vi said, patting the chair that was across from her.

I slipped out of my sweater and laid it on the back of the chair and then took a seat. “So, are you happy here?” I questioned. “Is everything going okay?”

“Very much so. I’ve been taking a pottery class, if you can imagine that, and doing gardening. They even had a cooking class. The instructor thinks she knows things, but I tell you, she does most things backwards.” She smiled.

I laughed. I could only imagine her taking advice on how to cook from someone like me. I’d never known Aunt Vi to be interested in pottery, so I nodded. “The pottery sounds interesting.”

“It is, dear. You should try it. I think you’d be very good at it.” She smiled, looking over at me, a serious look lining her face.

“What is it?” I questioned, worried that maybe she was really hating it here and only trying to put my mind at ease that she had made the right decision.

“Trinity, how would you like to go out to the garden?”

“It’s pretty cold out, Aunt Vi,” I said as I looked out the window at the large gardens that sprawled across the empty fields and took in the other residents who were out walking about.

“That’s what sweaters are for, dear.”

“Okay, Aunt Vi. Shall I get the nurse to get you a wheelchair?” I asked, wanting her to be comfortable.

“No need. I can still move about, you know. Just because a little arthritis has set in doesn’t mean I can’t still get up and go on my own.”

I smiled and stood, helping Aunt Vi up. I let her lead the way as we made our way out into the gardens. She led me over to what was left over of a small rose garden that had a cement bench in the center, and we both sat down.

“This must be gorgeous when everything is in bloom,” I said, taking in what was left of the roses that surrounded us.

“It is. Soon, though, everything will be wrapped up for winter. I love to come out here and sit and think. It’s rather peaceful, and the roses are gorgeous. Next summer we will sit out here when you come to visit me.”

We both sat there in silence, looking around. I wanted to spill my guts to Aunt Vi, tell her everything that had happened, yet I didn’t even know where I was supposed to start. Instead, I decided just to keep it all to myself. I didn’t want to upset her. I also didn’t want to upset myself, even if I could have used her comfort—the way she’d comforted me the night he’d left the first time.

“What is it, Pet?” Aunt Vi asked as she studied me.

“What is what?”

“Trinity, I’ve known you all your life. You can’t fool me. What is wrong? Is the business in trouble?”

---