Determined to try to work it out later, she picked up her fork and took a bite of the hash, enjoying the flavors, glad for her choice of meal.
Valerie stepped into the grandhall and felt an overwhelming sense of coming home flood her heart. She looked at the floor, thrilled to find the giant vintage compass rose on the cream tile floor exactly where she remembered. The dark blue compass bordered with glittery gold shone in the light of the chandelier. A round table that held a huge vase of white roses and greenery sat on the center of the compass. She knew the flowers came directly from Rosaline Dixon’s rose garden, and she walked forward to put her face close to the blooms and breathe in the fragrance. The smell of roses always reminded her of Auntie Rose. Nostalgic tears threatened to fall. When she heard footsteps on the tile, she took a moment to compose herself before raising her head.
“Mama picked those this morning,” a grinning and very male baritone voice said. As she came around the table, Valerie spotted Ken.
She smiled and said, “Hello again, Ken.”
His tight grin suddenly showed some teeth. “Only you and my parents have ever been able to do that consistently. Other than my brothers, of course.”
She approached him with confidence and hugged him. “It’s great to be here.”
“Of course, it is,” he said, hugging her back. “This is your home.”
He led the way to the sitting room on the west side of the hall. In a house full of men, Rosaline had claimed this one room as hers and made it entirely feminine. Cream-colored couches with a mauve rose pattern and gleaming mahogany wood tables formed a comfortable sitting area. A piano sat near the window and framed art showcasing dried flowers graced the walls. The patio doors opened onto Rosaline’s rose garden, and Valerie knew from experience that if she stepped out onto that patio, the sweet fragrance of flowers would fill the spring night.
Rosaline, dressed in a white blouse tucked into a purple skirt accented with a purple and pink scarf tied around her waist, rushed toward Valerie, her arms outstretched. “I’m so happy you’re here!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around her. “Welcome home!”
Valerie couldn’t help but grin as she embraced her pseudo-mother. “No one is happier than I am,” she said. “I didn’t realize how much I missed this place until I smelled the roses in the hall.”
Jon came into the room, typing into his phone as he walked. When he looked up, the distracted, concentrated look on his face evaporated and he smiled at Valerie. “Hello again,” he greeted, “welcome home.”
After hugging Jon with the same enthusiasm she’d given his brother, she settled onto one of the couches and felt every muscle in her body release tension she didn’t even realize she carried around with her. “I can’t believe how much is still the same,” she said, looking around and recognizing so many of the furnishings and pictures. “I’d have redecorated a dozen times by now. This is such a great room with great light.”
Rosaline laughed. “You’re the interior designer. You’d consider this room a blank canvas. I couldn’t wait to get this home furnished and decorated so I could be done with it. It was all such a chore.”
“I think growing up here really inspired me to be a designer.” She looked around. “I love every room, and they’re all different.”
“That’s what happens when you tackle each room, taking advice and ideas from a different month’s home decorating magazine.”
Valerie chuckled. “I don’t think you’re giving yourself enough credit.”
“Possibly.” She stood. “I just heard the front door.”
As she left the room, Valerie looked at Jon, who stood near the patio doors. “I heard you were just in Egypt.”
He nodded. “Just got in a couple of days ago. Quite an incredible and inspiring journey. My time there changed everything about me. Have you ever been to that area of the world?”
Thinking of all her dreams and desires that somehow got swallowed up by college and career and a very bad relationship decision, she shook her head. “I’ve still only ever been to Georgia and Florida.”
She watched the look of shock cross his face. “What?”
“I know! I need to take a trip!” She looked out the window at the mostly familiar view. “What were you doing there?”
He gave a slight shrug of his shoulders. “Dad met a guy. He was looking for someone to teach project management at a school over there. I was a guest speaker for a couple weeks, then a mentor to two PMPs for a couple more.”
“That’s wonderful. Did you enjoy it?”
His face tightened. “Some. I’d been there before, when I was sixteen. Different culture. I had a lot to learn about it before I left, and I’m glad I did. I’m a Georgia boy through and through, but I think the years I’ve spent going on mission trips helped me survive being so far out of my element.”
Brad and Phillip entered the room just as she started to reply. Phillip stood just an inch shorter than his sons. He had the same color chestnut brown hair, though he now had a sprinkling of gray. He still had a wide chest and thin waist and he walked into the room with the confidence of a man who knew exactly his own position in the world.
She grinned as she stood and let Phillip embrace her. “Valerie. Girl, I am so glad to see you back home.”
The Dixons kept suggesting that this castle was her home. She should object, she knew, because as many hours of her early life as she spent playing here, sleeping here,livinghere, when she thought of home, she pictured the house Buddy bought right before her high school years began. Yet, her heart disagreed. “I can’t tell you how happy I felt when I walked across that compass rose on the floor. Such a feeling of nostalgia.”
“I feel the same way whenever I walk through that front door.” He stepped aside and she greeted Brad with a smile. He looked just as fresh as he’d looked that morning, even though she knew he’d had a twelve-hour day. Did he have a girlfriend who helped ease the transition from work to downtime? Why did she wonder that?
Phillip kept his arm over her shoulder and turned toward his wife. “Rosie, my love, what is for dinner?”
