Maddy splutters a laugh. “I don’t care. You’ll probably be out of school by the time we get married.”
“Probably?” I question. “I can’t believe you’re already thinking about marriage.”
“Most rom-coms end with a marriage,” she says, pinching my cheek. “You’ve conditioned me with the constant movie streaming.”
I retch, smacking her hand away. “Don’t put me off the movies.”
“Do you want to watch one now?”
I give a sly smile. “Yes.”
“Have you finished all your homework?”
I roll my eyes and look up at the ceiling. “Dang. Do you really have to turn into an uber-nag?”
Aunt Maddy laughs, latching her arms around me. “Yes, because I care about you, Jamie. Hey, what happened to your baseboard?”
Aunt Maddy unravels her arms from around me and I scoot off the bed. I move over to the wall and pick up the dusty old book.
I show it to Maddy. “Did you know about this?”
She shakes her head, confused. “What is that?”
“I found it stuffed inside the wall.” I pause before dropping the bomb. “It was Mom’s.”
“Whoa,” Maddy murmurs as I gently set the book in her hands. Tears bud in her eyes as she stares at it. “I wondered where this went.”
I eagerly sit beside her. “So, you knew she kept a diary?”
Aunt Maddy sets in on her lap and turns to me with a smile. Her eyes have a watery shine. “She started writing in it while we lived in Logan’s Point. The last time I saw it was around the time you were two-years-old.”
“Whoa,” I mutter. I take the book and hold it carefully at the edges, like it's an invaluable treasure. “So, there’s stuff in here from before I was born?”
“Should be.” Maddy then lays a hand on the book and her tone turns stern. “Be careful when reading this. There could be stuff about your dad in it.”
I instantly drop the book and it bounces off my knees, smacking onto the floor. My mouth stays open, and Aunt Maddy and I share a hesitant look.
“She didn’t tell us who he was for a reason,” Maddy says, alarm bells replacing the tears in her eyes.
I suck in a breath and swallow hard. “I know. He was dangerous.”
Aunt Maddy scoops the book up from the floor and holds it out to me. “You can read this if you really want to. But there are things in here that Lily didn’t want us to know.”
I take the book and feel the weight of my heart growing heavy in my chest. I hug the diary close and eye the floor. “I’ll think about it.”
Aunt Maddy smooths my hair and kisses the side of my head. “She loved you so much.”
I purse my lips, forcing the threat of tears to disappear. I clear my throat and say, “I miss her.”
Aunt Maddy exhales and stands. “Me too. Shall I get the popcorn ready?”
“And chocolate,” I reply.
Maddy snaps her fingers at the TV. “Find us something good to watch.”
Maddy leaves the room and I switch on the TV. I scroll through the movies, but I’m not paying attention. The diary lies beside me and consumes my thoughts. I have a piece of my mom back. She wrote in it when she was my age. I can’t believe she was pregnant this young. How did she ever have the courage to be a parent? I can’t even look after myself. I guess she and Maddy took care of everything, so I don’t have to. They sacrificed their childhoods so I could have mine.
I lean back on the bed with a sigh. Aunt Maddy has to go to Hawaii. I owe her that much.
