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There was no stopping this emotional train wreck, it was full steam ahead.
The largest picture on the wall was taken at the beach. Rain was sitting in the sand with my mother sitting between his open knees. He had his arms wrapped around her middle, and they were both smiling happily as they watched a little blonde girl as she ran into the water. The girl had on a white two-piece bathing suit that was covered in pretty pink flowers. A huge, black floppy sun hat sat atop her head.
It was a picture of a happy family spending the afternoon together at the beach.
It was me, I was that little girl, and I had absolutely no memory of it whatsoever.
I got up off the bed and moved closer to the picture until I was standing right in front of it. I couldn’t stop myself from reaching out and running my fingertips along the glass, tracing over the happy couple.
Every time I saw a picture of Rain from before, it really messed with my head. He rarely smiled now, and the only time he did, it was directed my way. There were a few occasions when he’d aimed a smile at Baxter, but only I’d been around to witness those, so I wasn’t sure they even counted.
Our lives were so fucked up and had been filled with so much pain.
Rain once asked me if I wanted him to look into finding a spell or something that would help bring my memories from before back to me. I had said sure, but what I’d really wanted to say was a big fat no fucking thank you.
As horrible as this was going to sound, why did I want to remember a woman who was essentially a dead stranger? I might feel differently if there was still a chance to meet the woman one day in my future, but that was impossible, and the memories would cause more torture.
There was also no question in my mind, though, that come tomorrow, I might actually feel something entirely different about it. I couldn’t make up my mind and I didn’t want to be pressured into anything.
Still, I wanted to rip that photograph right off the wall so I could take it home with me. All these happy memories didn’t belong here, hidden away in this tomb that still smelled like the perfume of our dead.
If Rain came here to visit on the regular, it would surprise the shit out of me. He seemed more the type to only see something once for it to be enough to fuel his psychotic nature.
“Come here, girl,” Rain said from behind me, but I didn’t turn around right away. It was almost physically painful to turn away from the photograph. “Ariel.”
Now he had something to say? Jesus.
I blew out a heavy breath and finally turned to face him. I almost asked him if we could leave because this place was proving to be too much for me. But I’d already had one semi-tantrum today, so I couldn’t afford another one. Mentally, I didn’t think I could hack it.
And if I freaked out, Rain would probably lose his mind and go on a killing spree. Lord only knew who his victims would be or how many of them would pile up. I didn’t want to find out.
“Do I even want to know what’s in that box?” I asked as Rain stood before me with a large white box in his hands. I knew it was going to be something that made me want to cry. Rain was really good at giving me things like that.
I really did not like the blank expression on Rain’s face and the dead look in his eyes. He had his emotions locked down tight, and that spelled nothing but trouble for me.
I needed more trouble right now like I needed to be drowned in a bathtub.
“This was your mother’s, and now it’s yours.”
Oh no, not another one of these kinds of gifts. I backed away from Rain and didn’t stop until my back hit the wall and there was nowhere left for me to retreat to.
Rain laid the box down on the bed and lifted to top. The top was discarded to the side, and a bunch of white tissue paper was revealed—white tissue paper and a whole lot of something else that was white.
My mouth went dry, and my palms started to sweat.
I knew exactly where this was going, and I wanted no part of it.
First, I didn’t get a ring.
Now, I was getting a dead woman’s dress.
I was more than ready to go back home so I could lock myself in the bathroom and could cry for another fifty-eight years, because that was about all I had left in me to give.
Rain dug through the tissue paper, carefully moving it aside to get to the dress. With gentle care, he pulled the dress out of the box and held it up in front of me.
My breath left me in a rush, leaving me light-headed and frozen in place. I was too afraid that if I moved, my entire being would shatter into a million, broken, jagged pieces.
Whatever I had been expecting, this wasn’t it.
