Page 90 of One Touch

“Juney always was sentimental about how quickly those kids grew. I even had to hold Katie up as a baby so she could be on there too.”

A wistful smile spread over his face as though he was remembering with striking clarity the life he’d shared with the woman he loved. It was a painful reminder that, even though his memory could be cloudy, those precious moments were still tucked away there.

Red looked at me. “You did a damn fine job. Juney would have loved to live in a house like this.”

Tootie stepped forward to put an arm around her brother. “She’s here today,” Tootie said softly. “Her love is wrapped up in these walls, and no amount of renovation could ever take that away.”

Being surrounded by the love that family shared despite the trials they had been put through was heart wrenching. Instead of jagged edges, the broken pieces of the Sullivans had been smoothed over with time, affection, and a deeply rooted love that tied them together.

It was an honor to stand on the fringes and witness it.

This is what a family feels like.

THIRTY-ONE

KATE

Steam roseand swirled above my coffee mug as I sat at the expansive kitchen island of Tootie’s new kitchen, the old metal lockbox in front of me. Moving Tootie back into the farmhouse had been simple, and the delicate touches of her ceramic chickens and dainty hand towels made it feel more like her home than ever.

My aunt’s hand found my back, and I sighed, leaning into her and resting my head against her arm. “Can you believe it’s really done?”

Tootie looked around. “I didn’t need all this fuss, but it sure is pretty.” She grinned.

“You deserve it,” I answered back. “You took care of us. Took care of Dad. You’re the glue.”

“Ahh,” she said, attempting to dismiss my comments. “I’m just old and stubborn. And I never gave up on any of you, even if there were times you wanted to give up on yourselves.”

Aunt Tootie pulled the lockbox toward her and gently opened the latch. The smell of old paper wafted up. She carefully moved her fingers through the items left behind.

“So what’s next?” she asked.

I shrugged. “I’m not sure.” I sighed. “I would like to figure out what some of this means and why there are old liquor bottles with the Kings’ name on them and records of an illegal bootlegging operation in our basement.”

Tootie gently closed the lid. “I wasn’t talking about the speakeasy. I was talking about that man of yours.” Her assessing eyes looked me over. “Do you think you’ll go back to Chicago with him?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think I can,” I whispered. “I can’t keep running from my past. This is my home.” I swallowed hard. “But I’m also afraid to let him go. I love him.”

Her kind eyes smiled down at me. “It makes sense that you would be wary to trust after what you’ve been through. But if you’re willing to take advice from an old woman ...” She squeezed my shoulder.

“You’re not old.”

She laughed. “I most certainly am. I’m old and I have my secrets too. I bet you didn’t know that I also dated a set of brothers.” She lifted an eyebrow.

“Tootie. You did not!”

“It’s true. And trust me, back then, it was even more scandalous.”

I stared in disbelief.

“Your uncle Soapy’s brother Buster was the oldest. He courted me and painted promises of a life of travel and romance and adventure.” She sighed and shook her head. “’Course he didn’t have a pot to piss in, but I overlooked that at the time. I was wrapped up in the fantasy and promises of young love. Turns out the man was good with words, and that was about it. He had been telling those same big lies to Bug King behind my back.”

My mouth dropped open, and Tootie nodded. “Over time we bonded over our mutual hatred for that man.

“It wasn’t long after Buster was gone that Soapy swooped in to ease the ache in my heart. I didn’t want to trust him, and I didn’t want to believe anything he told me, but that man was persistent. After a whole year of flowers and walks in the park, my heart was healed enough to listen.”

She laughed and pressed a hand to her chest. “I bet you that man proposed to me a hundred times.” With a soft smile, she pointed a finger at me. “Now that’s patience.”

Tootie patted the back of my hand. “Trust me, when you’ve got a man’s heart wrapped up, he will move heaven and earth. And Katie, you deserve nothing less than that.”

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