She was shaking her head at the impossibility of it. “You said it last night, but it’s hard to imagine you with a family.”
I couldn’t help a smirk. “I didn’t spawn from the devil, much to everyone’s dismay.”
“You never, ever talk about them.”
I was quiet, because I didn’t—for many reasons I still had no desire to discuss.
“Your uncle lives here. Do your parents live here as well?” she asked, watching me.
I didn’t flinch outwardly, but inside, my entire chest seized up. “No.”
“Just no? You’re not going to explain that further?”
I wanted to say no again, but I wasn’t sure I could deny her answers when I was the one who’d opened the door to begin with.
“Not now,” I told her because it was the best I could do at the moment while I battled my emotions of regret and disquiet at my homecoming.
I parked in a line of spots to the left of the house normally reserved for visitors and staff. Turning the rental off, I looked at her before getting out. Her blue eyes were so clear and bright they could have been the waves off the wake of a naval carrier. Her normally glimmering skin was pale from the day before with shadows clinging to her eyes, but she was still heart-stoppingly stunning. I realized, with a quiet shock, that she looked like some of my ancestors. She could easily switch places with many of the women whose paintings lined the stairs, their hooped skirts, parasols, and lace gloves standing out amongst the purple fields of lavender. Except, Dani was more beautiful than any one of them. Her features softer, and yet, at the same time, stronger than theirs.
I turned away from the look of almost worry hanging from her face and got out. I grabbed both our bags from the trunk and refused to hand her suitcase to her when she tried to take it. I made my way to the door just as it was opened by Maribelle. Her skin was so light it almost blended with her halo of white hair, making her look like an apparition.
She didn’t say hello. She just wrapped her arms around me and hugged me as tightly as her ancient arms could. Her body felt frailer than ever before. I dropped the bags and hugged her back. I always allowed myself to forget her never-ceasing love when I was gone, choosing instead to concentrate on the disappointments that flew through all of us when I was here. But as I held her tiny body, I doubted I would have forgiven myself if she’d passed away without my hugging her one more time.
When we let each other go, she took two steps back and put her wrinkled, blue-veined hand to my cheek, assessing me as if she could see through me as she always had. Past the chin, rough with the scruff I hadn’t shaved in a couple of days, and the muscles on alert to the emotions hiding inside where they lay battered.
Maribelle wasn’t related to me by blood or marriage or in any way that people associated with family. I could say she was an employee, but it wasn’t that simple. She did work here, cooking and taking care of us, but without a clan of people claiming her, she’d made us her own. She’d been here as my mom and uncle grew up, just like she’d been here while I grew up. After nearly sixty years of being the backbone of the household, there was no memory of Wellsley Place that didn’t include her.
She finally spoke. “It’s been too long.”
There was no scold in her tone, just warmth.
Maribelle looked over my shoulder and said, “Who is this you’ve brought with you?”
The wonder in her voice was well-deserved. I hadn’t brought anyone home since I’d been shipped out to military school my freshman year of high school. Not a single person had crossed the threshold with me.
“This is Dani. Dani, this is Maribelle,” I introduced them.
Dani stepped forward to shake her hand, but Maribelle pulled her into an embrace much like the one she’d given me: shaky, warm, and heartfelt. Dani looked startled.Seeing the two women together sent shock coursing into my bones.It was as if my past, my present, and my future were colliding into one thing instead of remaining the separate entities I’d always imagined them to be.
Maribelle let go and stepped back into the house with Dani following her. I picked up the bags I’d tossed aside and closed the door behind me.
In the late morning sunshine, the stained glass surrounding the heavy mahogany doors was casting patterns onto the staircase, the colorful shapes of the light merging with the fleur-de-lis pattern on the burgundy-and-cream carpet running up the middle of the dark wooden steps. The gold marble floor in front of the stairs was also sprinkled with the colorful light, and my mind filled with memories of me in this entryway, displayed just as it was now, in a multitude of colors and patterns. My heart didn’t lighten at the images. There was no sense of relief in being here.
“Carson didn’t tell me you were coming,” Maribelle said, looking up into my face, searching for something I couldn’t give her.
“He didn’t know.”
“I see,” she said. This time there was a hint of reprimand there. The fact that I had limited communication with my uncle was the reason for it.
Dani punched me in the shoulder, her fist tight, landing with force as she didn’t hold back. I wanted to smile and pull her hand to my face and kiss it, but her brows squinting together told me it wouldn’t be received well.
“How could you just show up with me in tow?!” Dani said and then turned back to Maribelle. “I shouldn’t be surprised, but I’m so sorry if our visit puts you out.”
After carefully watching Dani hit me, and my nonresponse, Maribelle smiled at Dani with warmth. “Not at all. We’re always glad to have Nash home.”
It was a credit to Dani’s time in politics that she could maneuver an awkward situation with grace and poise. She seemed to belong in the house more than I did. As if the old walls were leaning in and sighing at her sudden appearance, the ghosts haunting the halls running to greet her.
The grandfather clock, which was twice as big as I was even now, fully grown, chimed out the hour, the warm tones of the bells taking me back again to a childhood which was hard to believe was mine. To me running up the stairs with Mom smiling and chasing me, racing to see who would make it to the top first. Dad claiming me the winner. I was never sure if I actually beat her or if she always let me.
