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“Yes. Glad to know you’re no longer working with L.A. or this interview would be over before it begins,” he tells her.
“We are going to take that as our cue to leave. Ladies, let’s leave them to it. Brook, you can follow me. We can talk in my office,” Hope instructs.
I follow her to her office but feel like eyes are on me. When I turn, I see no one. I close the door behind us.
“Sorry about that. Thank you for being flexible.”
“I completely understand. I'm on your timetable.”
“You said you needed to talk to me.”
“I do.” Taking a seat and one of her chairs, I begin. “What I'm about to tell you, no one knows. I know it's confidential, but I felt like I needed to say that. Yesterday, I went to my grandmother's grave site. It was ... well it wasn't what I expected.”
“What were you expecting?”
“I was expecting to go there and see two gravestones. That's not what I saw. I've spent the better part the day doing research. I've called around places but I'm still not getting response I need.”
“Need for what? What response are you looking for?”
“I know this is going to sound ... for lack of a better word ... crazy but I'm looking for my daughter. “
“Your what?”
“That's right. you don't know about her.”
Tears pricked my eyes. I'd expected to find them lying there side by side. I was ready for that. Seeing only one gravestone had me wondering where was the other one?
“Brooklynn, tell me what you’re thinking or what you're asking.”
“I'm asking if this is a sign that I'm losing my mind. Am I hoping for a different outcome because some part of me doesn't want to accept the truth? I'm afraid of slipping back behind that block. I don't wanna lose myself again.”
“Does that mean you remember?”
Hearing the hope in her voice makes me look up. Hope’s eyes are full of tears that match my own.
“Everything. Mostly. It’s just this. I need to know. My grandmother was trying to tell me something before she died. We argued about telling Daire the truth. She wanted him to know, and I was afraid to tell him. It was my fault. I’m the reason for that fire. Grandma Elle was upset and probably wasn't paying attention. She wasn't paying attention because she was unhappy with me. She was disappointed.”
Hope moves to sit next to me. We spend a couple hours talking. By the end, I felt a lot better than I did and I arrived. We even talked about my mother leaving. She tried to convince me to go to the fair tomorrow, but I can't. I think that would be too hard since I don't know the outcome of my inquiries.
My afternoon is spent with Journee and Noelle. I was right about the packages and boxes. My mother had all of it shipped to me from her house. She really wasn't coming back. I can't dwell on it. I've done enough of that in my life.
Picking up my phone, I do something I never expected. I begin a message. In it, I ask the one man I've always wanted out to dinner. I don't send it.
I join my friends in the living room. Journee and Noelle talk about the fair and all the fun they've had at the previous year’s event. For the rest of the night, all I hear from them centers on the fair and how much they're going to miss me if I don't go with them. They try and try but failed to wear me down.
I can’t do it. My puzzle still isn't complete.
