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Lucas’s face fell. “I don’t want you to leave, Thomas. Can’t you stay?”
Thomas pulled Lucas on to his lap. “I’m only two minutes away. The thing is, I need my own space. It’s been a long time since I’ve lived with anyone, and even though it’s been nice staying here, I need to go home. I appreciate everything that you and your auntie have done for me. In fact, I bet your auntie will invite me for dinner, providing she feels up to it.”
“Consider yourself invited. Now Lucas, you go and wash up and bring a sweater down with you. I don’t want you getting sick again.”
Mack turned to Thomas and had a good look at him. He appeared pale, but he certainly seemed better than he had been. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”
He smiled at Mack. “I really am fine. Just tired. I don’t sleep too well unless it’s in my own bed.”
“I know what you mean. I’m a bit like that, but for some reason, I haven’t had any trouble here. Perhaps it’s the fr
esh air and being so close to the ocean.”
“Auntie Mack, I’m ready.”
She turned her head and looked at Lucas, who did look ready with his sweater on and his sneakers on the correct feet.
“Come on then, let’s go. And Lucas, no messing in the tidal pools today. You’ve just been sick.”
“This isn’t going to be any fun,” he grumbled.
Mack just smiled and ushered him outside the cottage before she took hold of his hand. They all started walking with Thomas along the beach path.
When they reached Thomas’s cottage, Mack stood on the porch with him while Lucas laid in the lounge chair on the front lawn.
“Thomas, can I ask you something?”
“Go on.”
“Are you JT?”
Thomas stopped what he was doing and abruptly sat down on the porch swing. “I haven’t used that name in a very long time. It was her nickname for me, switching my initials around so no one would know she was talking about me,” he explained, wiping his hand across his face.
“Thomas, if it’s too painful to talk about Rose, I guess nobody has ever died of curiosity,” Mack said concerned.
“She hated me,” Thomas whispered.
Mack was stunned. “Who, Rose?”
He nodded his head. “Yes, I was always trying to get her into trouble.” He shook his head.
“Thomas, no. You’re wrong. In her diary, she said that she loved you. Wait a minute.” Mack quickly retrieved the diary from her purse and found the relevant part in the diary. “This is dated March 20, 1947. Rose says, ‘JT is otherwise known as Thomas James. He is twelve years old and regardless of what he may think, I love him dearly.’ That was what she wrote in here, Thomas.”
“I never knew,” he whispered.
After a few moments of silence, he stood up and unlocked his front door. “I’ll be fine, Mack. I’m glad you found her diary and told me. It means a lot.” He tried to reassure her. “You go and have fun with the boy and I’ll see you both at dinner.”
Thomas walked inside his cottage as Mack looked toward Lucas, who was waiting patiently in the garden. She just hoped Thomas would be all right.
Mack and Lucas had both taken a nap after they’d returned from the beach. Despite feeling better, the long walk, as they collected an assortment of clamshells and smooth bones, had been exhausting.
She loved shells and had them all over her apartment. For the past three years on Mack’s birthday, Lucas had painted some and stuck them to some sort of clay item that he’d made. She smiled in remembrance of the flowerpot, vase and coffee mug he’d made her. All unusable, but they meant more to her because Lucas had taken the time to make them. She knew she’d treasure them always.
After they’d eaten dinner, Thomas decided to stay while Lucas had his bath so he could read him another Our Gang story before they both said goodnight.
Sitting with a coffee in the living room with Thomas, Mack hoped he had decided to talk about Rose.
“What do you want to know?”
