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Maya signed into the visitor’s book and followed a nurse through the hallways of the nursing room, her nose filled with the smell of medicine, cleaning supplies, and starchy foods. With each step, Maya reminded herself that she was about to meet her aunt for the first time. Everything felt unreal.
Veronica Albright’s suite was the most regal room Maya had ever seen in a nursing home. A large mahogany wardrobe sat near the window, gleaming in the light that streamed through the drapes, and an ornate couch with a floral pattern was pushed against the wall beneath a painting of a little girl guiding a sheep through the woods. A television was off and pushed into the corner, as though Veronica didn’t want anyone to know she deigned to watch television, and a bookshelf was featured on the wall nearest the door, laden with what had to be three hundred books. Maya stood in the doorway for a second, frozen with fear, then rapped gently on the doorframe. “Ms. Albright?” she said quietly.
A shadow peeked out from the kitchenette. “I’m here, honey. Just one moment.” The tap in the kitchen ran, and then, a very old woman smaller than five feet walked delicately into the living room. Veronica had a froth of white hair, slender shoulders, thin hips, and long fingers. She probably weighed no more than ninety-five pounds.
Still, Maya could see the young woman in the photographs back at the mansion in this woman’s face. They had the same twinkle in their eyes. The smile that played out across Veronica’s lips was similar to the childlike one Maya had seen in the photos of young Veronica and young Bethany.
“Look at you,” Veronica said, walking slowly toward her. “You look just like Bethany.”
Maya’s throat tightened. She wanted to refute this; she wanted to remind Veronica that Bethany had died at the age of twenty-six. Maya had been allowed to live twenty-two years longer than her mother.
“You do,” Veronica insisted, as though she sensed Maya’s rebuttal. “Your eyes, nose, and mouth are the same. And something about your posture.” Veronica tapped her chin with a single finger as her eyes widened.
Maya still hadn’t said anything. She took a small step forward, feeling foolish. For weeks, all she’d wanted was to throw her arms around this woman.
Veronica walked the rest of the way to the cushioned chair by the window and sat. She motioned to the couch beside her, urging Maya to join her. Maya’s mouth was dry.
“Thaddeus tells me you put on quite a show,” Veronica said as Maya settled in.
“The festival was wonderful,” Maya said, her voice wavering. “Everyone in town helped me out.”
“I heard a special elementary school teacher stepped in to pick up the slack,” Veronica went on.
Maya’s stomach flipped over. Something in her face betrayed her, and Veronica chuckled.
“As you already know, after your brief time here, people gossip all over Hollygrove,” Veronica explained. “And sons and daughters come into Hollygrove Nursing Home and do some more gossiping with their parents, who spread that gossip around here. You see, we know everyone who’s everyone in Hollygrove. We don’t just gossip about people. We analyze who they are based on their parents, their relationships, and their careers. We spend hours discussing why people are the way they are. It’s more like a literary analysis than anything.”
Maya tried to loosen into her aunt’s joke and laughed gently.
“I had Brad Turner in class, you know,” Veronica said.
“He told me.”
Veronica smiled. “He was a wonderful child. So helpful. So sensitive. When he told me he wanted to be a teacher, I went back home and wept into my pillow. It seemed too good to be true that I’d had a hand in molding Brad Turner’s mind.”
“He’s the best man I’ve ever met,” Maya said quietly, surprising herself with how earnest she sounded. She genuinely believed it.
Maya flinched and crossed her ankles. She knew she needed to ask Veronica about some deep-held secrets in the Albright family. But she didn’t know how to begin.
“I heard about the necklace,” Veronica said as though she read Maya’s mind. Her eyes clouded.
Maya nodded. Somehow, she didn’t want to tattle on Olivia for stealing it.
“Olivia is my sister,” Maya said with a tired shrug. “I didn’t know about her at all until a few days ago. And I don’t know what to do about it. It’s clear she hates the Albright family. By extension, she hates me. I don’t know if I’ll ever get that necklace back. And maybe that doesn’t matter anymore. Not now that I know about all of this.”
Veronica wet her lips. Her eyes stirred with sorrow. “My mother’s rage after Bethany’s pregnancy still echoes through everything,” she began. She touched her ear and added, “Sometimes, I can still hear her yelling in my head. Bethany was her favorite child— her prettiest daughter. She had great expectations for her. Oh, but it was terrible. Bethany was just a girl. And all at once, it was as though her mother no longer loved her.”
Maya swallowed the lump in her throat. “Did you know my mother was going to run away?”
“She stopped speaking to me around the time of your sister’s birth.”
“Her name is Olivia,” Maya reminded her.
“Olivia,” Veronica echoed. “That must have been chosen by the adoptive parents. Your mother wasn’t allowed to name her. And she wasn’t allowed to talk about the baby after she left.”
Maya’s heart cracked.
“When I heard your mother had run away, I wasn’t surprised,” Veronica went on. Her face was pale. “But I was broken about it. I didn’t leave the house for many weeks. I could hear my mother down the hall, alternating between screaming and crying. She lost about thirty pounds very quickly. I think she knew it was her fault for chasing Bethany away. It took her ages to figure out how to carry the weight of that.
