AllFreeNovel
Share Us
So… no harm, no foul.
As long as I kept my damn mouth shut about it.
Which wasexactlywhat I planned to do.
I breezed through the doors ofNectarprecisely as I would any other day, stopping by theUrban Grindmini-shop for a double shot latte. The first thing I did at my computer was open my email, checking for anything urgent. I liked fixing problems at thebeginningof the day.
Luckily for me, the onlyproblemon my hands had been a personal one. Therewasa message of interest in my box though. The name Hailey Freemanin the “from” column pulled my attention, and I double-clicked the message to see what it was about.
Good morning Nalani,
We haven’t had the opportunity to meet yet, but I’m a regular patron ofNectar, in there a couple of times every week! You might be familiar with my family. I’m descended from the original owners of the Freeman’s Bridal Shop, which provided your dress for your recent nuptials. Less known is the fact that my great, great grandmother—also Hailey Freeman—used to run a periodical for the town, back when it was still known as Sugar Leaf.
I know that introduction is a lot of “okay, get to point,” but I promise I am!
I moved to Blackwood pretty recently and have found myself enamored with the history, especially knowing my ancestral connection; one we tangentially have in common. In looking through old pictures from the printing press days, I’ve found a lot of historical information related toNectarthat you might wish to look through and/or have in your possession.
I’ve been working closely with our local historian to parse all of these thing, and am also in the process of writing a book of essays that reflect the history of Blackwood and that connection to modern life. I’d love to speak with you about the project. I’m sure you have a lot of valuable insight into keeping the heart of family legacy alive while making sure the store remains relevant for the modern consumer.
Additionally, I have some pictures that would likely be of interest to you, or maybe your new husband? They’re still in great condition. They’ve been taken through an extensive preservation process, but they have to be at least forty or fifty years old. They were donated to the museum project by the children of some people in the picture, but they heavily featureNectar, your parents, the Sterlings ( Daneitha and Caspian, Orion’s parents) and some friends. I’ll attach scans of them for you to see.
Clearly, I’m long winded. I like words, sorry!
In any case, please contact me at your convenience. Again, I’d love to speak to you about the store and any other historical context you could give me.
Thank you!
Hailey Freeman.
The message ended there but I kept scrolling, curious about the pictures she was referring to.
Pictures that immediately brought a smile to my face.
They were in color, but the grainy, muted colors synonymous with the time. So much of the storehadn’tchanged in layout because there was no need. My ancestors who built the store wereclearlythinking beyond their time.
The biggest changes were signage and technology, which we’d integrated well. Everything still felt very organic and classic, without being old-fashioned. And of course, much different storefronts.
There was still a smile on my face as I came to the pictures where the people were the subjects, several of which were my mother. She was young in these, younger than I was now, and it was like looking into myownpast self.
I lookedjustlike her.
Besides my father, the other people weren’t as familiar, but I could quickly pull Orion’s parents out. He looked like his fatherandmother, a beautiful blend of the two.
It was wild to me that they’d all been friends, considering the way they’d always been spoken about to me.
But when I thought about it really… all the trash talking had come from my father.
Looking at him in pictures of him and the other men, I wondered what had gone wrong. In these pictures, they were all smiles, unloading boxes, taking a break to shoot dice, hands around each other’s shoulders.
They seemed likebrothers.
So what the hell happened?
When I clicked onto the last picture, my eyes went wide. There were three men in most of the pictures, Orion’s father, my father, and a third man who was usually not facing the camera. In this one though, he was looking right at it.
Lookingjustlike my little brother.
And I didn’t have to wonder who he was. After the past week, his identity heldzeromystery to me.
