Returning Pride

by Jill Sanders

  “It’s so nice to get away every now and then” her mother had told her when the staff had delivered her breakfast. She wished she could look at life with such wonderment herself.

  Less than an hour after breakfast, Megan and Lacey walked in with two large bouquets of flowers. Several more vases of flowers had been delivered earlier that morning. The room was quickly filling up and smelled like a flower garden.

  Lacey sat next to her mother, talking quietly to her while Megan sat on the couch next to Iian. Iian hadn’t left, and she was sure he smelled as bad as she did. Yet he looked fresh as if he’d just arrived there after a great night’s sleep and a hot shower.

  “So, I’ve decided. You’re moving in.” Megan held up a bright red key chain. The silver key dangling on it caught the light.

  “What?” She didn’t think her mind was that tired, but she wasn’t quite understanding what Megan was talking about.

  “I’ve given you the honeymoon suite. It’s yours indefinitely.” Then it hit her. Megan’s cabins. She had five of them that she rented out for her bed and breakfast business.

  Allison had done paintings of all the cabins and the main house several years ago for her. The honeymoon suite, which Megan called it, was the largest cabin with two rooms, a large bathroom, its own kitchen and living room area. And the cabin was just a quick walk from the beach.

  “I couldn’t possibly,” she got no further than that.

  “You wouldn’t dare turn this away. Not after everything you’ve done for me.” Allison could see tears starting to form in her friends eyes. “I won’t take no for an answer.” She put the key into her hands.

  “I’ve brought you a change of clothes. If you want, why don’t you go in the bathroom there and shower and change. It can’t be comfortable sitting around in the same smoky clothes all night,” Lacey said, as she sat by Mrs. Adams’ side.

  Looking between the two, Allison wondered what she’d ever do without her friends.

  “I… Thank you.” Tears threatened the back of her eyes. Quickly standing up she took the large bag from Lacey and retreated into the privacy of the bathroom.

  When she came out, her mother was asleep and the room was empty except for Megan, who sat reading a book on the couch.

  “Aaron and Lacey had some things to take care of. Todd has the children with him if you want to go home and get some rest. I’ll stay here for a few hours with your mother. Mary is going to stop by in a few hours to take over. I think there is a list going around of everyone who has volunteered to sit with your mom. You needn’t worry about her for the rest of the day.”

  “I can’t thank you enough for letting me stay in your cabin. I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”

  “Don’t worry about it. That’s what we do for family.” Megan smiled over at her. “We’ve filled up the kitchen, so there’s plenty of food. Go on, get some rest. Oh, I almost forgot,” Megan reached into her purse and pulled out a set of keys. “We found them on the front porch last night, so we drove your car over this morning for you. It’s parked in the West lot, right up front.”

  She’d been so good about holding everything inside, but when she reached her car it all came out. Resting her head on the steering wheel, she cried until she couldn’t cry anymore.

  Chapter Nine

  The drive through town was the hardest one she’d ever taken. When she’d reached her street, she tried to avoid looking down to see what was left of her childhood home. From the description the police officer had given last night, she knew there hadn’t been much left.

  Deciding it was too much for her to handle just now she quickly turned down a side road and headed towards the cabin.

  Parking in the gravel driveway next to the sign that read, “Pride Bed and Breakfast” she realized she didn’t even have her purse. It had been left in the house last night when she’d spontaneously taken her ride with Iian.

  The path to the cabins were well traveled. Megan had done wonders with the plants along the short walk. Small signs poked out of the daisies that read, “Don’t trample on the daisies – the fairies”

  Several flower beds had bird feeders, bird baths, gnomes, or other small statues along the pathway. All in all, it was an enjoyable walk past the other four cabins.

  Standing in the sunlight, she stopped to look at her cabin, other-wise known as the honeymoon suite. She could tell why Megan had chosen this one for its purpose. Not only was it farthest away from the main house, but it was the most secluded cabin. The other cabins sat directly on the main path, while this cabin was off on its own little pathway and sat further back in the trees. The view from the large front porch was breath taking. The ocean and beach filled her vision as far as she could see. With the woods to its back and the ocean at its front, she didn’t have to wonder why people had come from across the world to stay here. And it was all hers, indefinitely.

  Using the silver key to unlock the red door, she walked in to find the front living area full of flowers, boxes, and bags of items. Setting her keys down, she wandered around the room opening bags and boxes. There were shoes in her size and her mother’s. Clothing of all types for both of them. Kitchen supplies, make-up, a blow dryer, curling irons, you name it, it was there in a bag or a box. Some of them were used items, but in good condition, but most of them were new. All with notes from the person or people who had given without a second thought. She read and collected each note as she went through the items. She thought she’d cried all she could in her car, but the tears gently seeped out, washing away all her loneliness.

  Iian was in a mood. He’d left the hospital with his sister, only because she’d blackmailed him. Having a sister who knew and saw everything was sometimes a burden. He couldn’t deny the fact that he’d needed a shower and a few hours of sleep himself. In fact, he caught himself falling asleep several times on the car trip home.

  Knowing that Allison was getting rest had had set his mind at ease, at least, for a few hours in order for him to get some much needed rest.

  Dumping his clothes in the dirty bin, he walked naked into his newly-renovated bathroom and stopped dead.

  There, as clear as day, stood his father. Blinking his eyes several times to clear them, he was sure he was hallucinating. But what happened next shocked him to the core.

  “Well, don’t stand there butt-naked boy. Grab that towel and cover your shame,” the old man said and then laughed loudly. All perfectly heard by a man who’d been deaf for over ten years.

  Iian hit the floor.

  “Shit!” Todd said as he shook his naked and unconscious brother for what seemed like the hundredth time. It had been over eleven hours since his sister had dropped him off to get a shower and some rest. They’d been texting him for the last two hours until finally he’d driven over himself to see what was keeping his brother from answering.

  Walking into the main bathroom, the last thing he’d expected to see was his brother naked, lying on the cold tile floor. It had taken him almost a minute to rouse him.

  Iian blinked a few times, then he focused on his brother’s face. His brother was talking to him, but he couldn’t hear. Had he imagined the whole thing? Was he going crazy? He must have been more tired than he thought last night.

  “I saw Dad,” he signed to Todd. “He spoke to me and I could hear him.”

  “What the hell are you talking about? Are you okay?” Todd signed.

  Standing up, he steadied himself by leaning on the counter top. He shook his head and turned towards his brother to tell him again.

  Todd interrupted with, “Don’t stand there butt-naked. Grab that towel and cover your shame.”

  Iian looked at his brother and just laughed.

  Half an hour later, he sat in Megan and Todd’s living room along with every person in town, waiting for Allison and her mother to arrive. Little Sara had crawled up in his lap shortly after arriving and had quickly fallen asleep, leaving him stuck sitting on the couch in one of the busiest rooms in the house a
nd he didn’t mind one bit.

  People came and went, all chatting while waiting for the two people they’d come to show their support to. Not being able to hear sometimes had its perks.

  He could tell when the pair arrived. The energy level in the place tripled. Everyone in the room quickly rushed towards the hallway. He sat there holding his niece and enjoying the warm feeling of a sleeping child on his chest.

  Allison and her mother walked in the front door and were greeted by the whole town of Pride.

  Less than ten minutes later, as Lacey walked her into the den, she balanced a plate full of food in her hands. She edged into the crowded room and saw Iian sitting on a large couch against the opposite wall. The sleeping baby on his shoulder was beautiful, but when he looked up from the little girl and smiled at her, she melted.

  Walking over, she gently sat beside him, trying not to disturb the baby. Since his hands were full, he spoke softly and asked, “How’s your hand?”

  He was looking down at the newly re-bandaged hand. She could see the concern in his eyes. When he looked back up she said clearly, “It’s fine. I didn’t get a chance to say thank you for staying with me at the hospital.”

  When he just smiled, she bent over and started to eat a little off her plate. Several times, he reached over with his free hand and took a carrot or half her roll from her plate. It was nice, sitting in a packed room next to the one person she didn’t feel like she had to hold a conversation with. Someone she suddenly she felt closer to than anyone else in the room. When she started to rise to get some dessert, she looked over her shoulder and asked if he wanted something from the dessert table.

  He gently shifted the baby on his shoulder and stood, then said, “I’ll get something myself. Let me just take her upstairs for her nap.”

  “I’ll go with you.” She followed him up the large staircase and down the long hallway to the light pink room decorated with butterflies.

  When he gently placed his niece on her pink comforter in her crib, he tucked the blanket loosely over her and pushed a strand of her blonde curls from her face. Reaching over, he turned on the baby monitor and grabbed the receiver. When he turned around he signed, “For her mother,” and smiled again.

  When he walked out the door, he pulled her into his arms, and kissed her. It was a light kiss, but it warmed her to her toes. When it ended, he held on for just a moment. He needed to hold her, feel her in his arms and she needed it as well. Then they headed down to get dessert together, holding hands.

  It was great to see everyone in town come together for someone in need. The gifts and donations she and her mother had received the previous day had been a blessing; one they hadn’t even had the time to think, but sitting in a room full of her town’s people assured her one thing, she and her mother would never want for anything.

  Patty, the owner of the town’s only grocery store, was sitting next to her mother listening to her talk about all the wonderful things they’d been given, as if it was Christmas.

  Allison was sitting in the dining room talking to a group of people she’d gone to school with when Lacey approached her with a small package in her hands.

  “I know you’ve been given a lot these last few days, but I thought you might need one more thing.” She sat the package down in front of her.

  Allison started to remove the yellow flowered paper and looked down into her own face. The family portrait had been taken less than two months before her father had passed away from a heart attack. She and her sister stood on either side of her father as their mother sat in front. It had been the last family portrait taken of a family about to be torn apart.

  Tears stung her eyes and her hand shook as she ran a finger lightly over her sister’s face.

  That’s when it really had hit her. She’d lost everything in that fire. The years of family portraits, her great-grandmother’s piano, her grandfather’s clock, all of her sister’s belongings and memories.

  Looking down at the framed picture, she realized this was the last thing she had to remind her of what was once a great family. Then she looked up into the faces of the town people who had come out to show their love and support and realized she still had a wonderful family.

  Her mother, for the most part, had enjoyed the evening. Since the other night, she hadn’t had another episode. Allison knew the reprieve would be short lived.

  Tanya was there with her kids. Her new boss had taken the time to assure her that she could take as much time as she needed to recover. Allison didn’t want to take any time off. She knew she had to find someplace to put her mother. Getting back to work was going to help her keep her mind off the large black hole that was her old house.

  She’d finally driven by it earlier on her way to pick up her mother from the hospital. The charred remains of her house loomed over the neighborhood. The east wall of the house still stood, but everything else had fallen in on itself. The foundation could be seen on the far right side of the place. She could actually still smell smoke when she drove by. Someone had come by and placed a condemned sign up, trying to detour anyone from entering. Like anyone would want to try to step foot in a place that looked like it would blow over with a slight wind.

  Just then from across the room, she heard the tone of her mother’s voice change and knew it was time to leave the party.

  The next day Allison decided she did need help with her mother.

  Living in an eight-hundred-square-foot cabin by yourself was one thing. Living with your mother who was in the full stages of dementia was another.

  Several times she’d been woken from her sleep with the banging of pots. Did they even have pots? was her first thought. Then when she’d heard a loud crash, she’d jumped from her bed and ran in to find her mother on her hands and knees scrubbing the bathroom floor. Scrubbing it at two in the morning.

  When she’d asked her what she was doing, her mother had replied.

  “I’m cleaning up after your father. He just barfed all over the bathroom floor and I can’t seem to get it up.”

  When Allison looked at the shiny linoleum, she quickly realized the issue. The tile in their house had been white not tan.

  Chapter Ten

  Iian loved working outside in the dirt. He enjoyed working in the yard as much as he liked cooking in his kitchens.

  The weather had turned, so he could finally till the dirt in his garden area. Pulling weeds and tilling the ground gave him great pleasure. The smells of the fresh-turned dirt always made it feel more like spring. Ever since he could remember, they’d had a small garden on the land; after all, there was a little over twelve acres. Living by himself in the big house, he hadn’t change the tradition. Sure, he’d cut back from planting too much. If there was extra, he always took it to his brother’s or sister’s place.

  He had a few apple and pear trees that lined the small garden area. Looking around, he could see that they were starting to bloom. There were two rows of grapes that he always enjoyed. He’d even thought about adding another row or two to see if he could make his own wine. He’d gone online and found a great starter wine recipe that he really wanted to try his hand at.

  He loved cooking, but he especially loved to pull his own fresh vegetables and fruit from his back yard and cook with them. Most people couldn’t tell the difference, but with his heightened sense of smells and taste, he could easily pick out his own grown foods over store bought every time. He had a larger herb garden to the side. He loved to take fresh herbs into the restaurant to use when he cooked.

  Todd often helped him with the garden. Iian thought it was because he liked to use the old tiller that he pulled behind Chester, Todd’s huge black shire horse. His brother was weird when it came to pulling that big wooden thing behind the huge beast. Iian told him that he looked like a character off Little House on the Prairie. Todd told him that it was his way to get in touch with the past. Iian laughed at him and would sit back to watch the show. Iian preferred driving the John Deere they’d purcha
sed the same year Todd had gotten the horse.

  Now the barn sat empty, since Todd had moved Chester to his newly renovated barn at his house. If the truth was known, Iian missed having the beast around. Maybe he’d get himself a horse, something he could ride through his fields on. Maybe even take down to the beach.

  He wouldn’t mind having a few horses. Maybe when he had kids he could teach them to ride.

  He could just imagine his own kids; their blonde little heads, with blue eyes, and a small dimple at the corner of their mouths when they smiled. Shaking his head, he realized the person he was thinking of as their mother. She was the only one he’d ever imagined having kids with.

  He just needed to make sure to prove to her that his intentions were forever. He didn’t want there to be any doubt in her mind that he wanted her to stay in Pride with him, in this house where she belonged.