AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The word amazing conveys nothing. I can’t picture your experience from that sparse description.” She felt unsettled and raw. She wished for a moment that Liza was here. Liza would understand.
Reading those letters couldn’t have been easy, but her daughter had been compassionate and sensitive. She’d checked how her mother was feeling, without in any way smothering her or forcing her to reveal the emotions that were swirling inside her. Liza had asked few questions, even though she must have had hundreds.
Kathleen’s eyes stung. Her biggest regret wasn’t the years she hadn’t been close to Ruth, but the years she’d wasted when she could have been closer to Liza. That bothered her more than the lost relationship with Ruth. She’d held herself back from the people who were most important to her.
She tried to focus as Martha slid into the car next to her. “You enjoyed yourselves?”
“It’s magnificent. There are multiple layers of rock, all different colors. Blues, and purples—wait—” Martha pulled out her phone and showed Kathleen the photographs. “This will give you a better idea than my totally inadequate words. Do you see the petrified wood?”
Kathleen was touched by Martha’s insistence on including her in the parts of the trip that were beyond her capabilities.
“It’s the result of extensive erosion.” Josh leaned forward from the passenger seat, every bit as enthusiastic as Martha. “You’re looking at layers of exposed sandstone and bentonite clay. The mineral deposits are a few hundred million years old. It was formed in the late Triassic period.”
“Your brother would accuse you of being a nerd at this point,” Martha said and Josh gave her a smile.
“He would. And I’d point out that it wasn’t politically correct to call someone a nerd.”
“At which point he would roll his eyes and open another beer.”
From Josh’s laughter Kathleen thought it safe to assume that Martha’s guess had been correct. They’d obviously been talking about his brother on their walk.
The dead never left, she knew that. They walked alongside you.
What would Brian have said, if he could be with her now?
You read the letters? Good. It will make your mind feel tidier to have that chapter complete.
Kathleen smiled. She’d never been the tidiest of people.
“A few hundred million years.” She studied the rocks in the photographs Martha was showing her, because that seemed safer than studying her feelings. “I feel young by comparison. The colors are striking. Like an artist’s palette.” She thought how much Liza would love it and felt herself wobble. “You must send those to Liza. She’s been painting again. She uses a lot of blue. She likes blue. She’s always loved to paint the ocean.” She was engulfed by a smothering cloud of homesickness. Oh how she wished she was back in Oakwood Cottage, feeling the afternoon sun on her face and smelling the sea in the air. Everything here was arid, baked dry by the scorching sun. At home the garden would be lush and green, and her favorite rose would be flowering in scented profusion. Popeye would be lying on the patio, basking in a pool of sunshine. “You will send them to Liza?”
“I’ll do it as soon as I have a strong signal.” Martha was no longer smiling. “Is everything all right, Kathleen? Are you drinking plenty?”
“If only she said that when I had a gin in my hand.” But Kathleen took the water Martha handed her and took a sip as she glanced at the view. “Are you going to upload the photos to our social media?”
“Listen to you—upload—” Martha nudged her “—we’ll make a technology lover of you, yet.”
Kathleen shuddered, but more because it was expected of her than because she felt a particular aversion. It was technology that was allowing her to talk to Liza.
“I thought maybe I’d call Liza when we stop for lunch.”
“You can call her anytime. Josh and I can go for a walk to give you some privacy if that would help.”
Kathleen pulled herself together. “Lunchtime will be fine. She’ll probably be at the beach with Sean at the moment and the signal isn’t good there.”
“Sean is at the cottage? I thought Liza was there on her own?”
“He joined her, so they’re spending a few days together.”
“That’s good.”
It was good. Was Liza happy? All Kathleen wanted was for her daughter to be happy. She’d always wanted that, of course, but now that the barriers between them had been removed it was as if their happiness was somehow connected.
“Shall we record a piece to camera?”
It would be an excuse to send something to Liza without appearing needy.
With Martha’s assistance, Kathleen maneuvered her aching, uncooperative limbs out of the car and shaded her eyes.
