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Chapter 26: Away
Rachel
The door creaked open as I pushed it.
It made a loud thudding noise when it hit the wall on the other side. I cleared my throat and waved a hand in front of my face. Tiny particles of dust danced on the floorboards. I stepped into the room and yanked the curtains open.
Bright sunlight poured in through the windows, giving the room a warm, ethereal glow. Then I spun on my heels and placed both hands on my hips. Having arrived at the Bolton’s cabin an hour ago, I had spent the last hour making sure everything was working in order. Since the electricity and water were up and running, it still left the rest of the house.
I rolled my sleeves up and stepped back out into the cream-colored hallway with family pictures hung up on either side. With a smile, I traced the pictures and followed them until the end of the hallway, which opened into a kitchen on one side, and a living room on the other.
Ron sat in the middle of the living room, legs tucked underneath him and a coloring book open in his lap. He glanced up at me when I came in and coughed. “Mommy, can I go play on the beach?”
“We’ll go together,” I replied with a small smile. “I need to clean the house first.”
Ron’s eyes widened into saucers. “All of it? It’s so big, mommy.”
“I’ll only do the bottom floor since it’s where we’ll be staying,” I responded after a brief pause. “Here, why don’t I set up a movie for you to watch while I clean?”
Ron nodded and glanced back down at his coloring book.
With a grunt and a huff, I managed to get the TV above the fireplace to work. As soon as it did, Ron clapped his hands together in excitement. Before he could jump onto the couch, I held a hand up and shook my head. Quickly, I took the pillows outside and dusted them off. A thick plume of dust rose through the air, making my eyes water. When I brought them back inside, Ron had gone back to his coloring book, a furrow appearing between his brows. While I swept the living room, he drew his bottom lip between his teeth.
A short while later, when I was done tidying up the living room, Ron jumped onto the couch and tucked his legs underneath him. “Can I pick what movie to watch?”
“Sure, sweetheart. Whatever you want.”
Ron settled back against the couch and tucked his toys next to him. Once the TV was set up and I draped a blanket over him, I made my way back into the kitchen. Underneath the sink, I found the cleaning supplies and set them down on the counter. Then I rolled up my sleeves and placed them all into one bucket.
I started with the master bedroom at the end of the hallway. In the bathroom, I knelt down on the tile floor and scrubbedand washed, doing my best to avoid all thoughts of Bernard the entire time. When I got up to wash the mirror, I nearly fell backward because I thought I saw Bernard in the doorway.
By the time I finished the bathroom, my arms ached, and my muscles screamed. I took out a pair of clean sheets from the linen closet and unfolded them. After fluffing up the pillows on the large bed, I smoothed out the wrinkles and nodded to myself. With a low humming noise, I made my way to the smaller room across the hall.
In the doorway, I paused and glanced around, smiling to myself at the memories there. Since the Boltons were gracious enough to have us here, Ron and I had come down every fourth of July for the first three years of his life. He and I had curled up together on the small bed, and I’d spent many hours telling stories and listening to the sound of Ron breathing.
The room had a lot of memories.
I saw them all while I turned it inside out, pushing the bed away from the wall as I did. As I swept, I saw all the hours Ron spent on the floor, playing and talking to himself. When I crawled onto the bed to tidy it, I remembered his small, round shaped face turned towards me as he pouted. Finally, when I changed the sheets, I could still hear the sound of his laughter as I tickled him.
As soon as I was done, I spun around, and my hand flew to my chest at the figure in the doorway. Ron tilted his head to the side and clutched the toy closer to his chest. “What’s wrong, mommy?”
“You just scared me, sweetheart. I didn’t know you were there.”
“I’m hungry, mommy,” Ron told me, his blue eyes going wide. “Do we have any food?”
“I got us some food when we stopped at the supermarket,” I assured him with a smile. After I set the cleaning bucket back down, I took his hand and led him into the kitchen. He sat down on the round dining table overlooking the kitchen and swung his legs back and forth. I handed him his coloring book and a box of crayons before pressing a kiss on top of his head. Then I reached for the plastic bag on the counter.
With a smile, I set a plate down with a tuna sandwich, a pack of chips, and a juice box. Ron gave me a sweet smile before picking up the sandwich. I watched him eat, my fingers threaded through his hair and a heaviness in the center of my chest. When my phone rang, and Taylor’s name flashed across the screen, I was relieved.
“Hey, how’s it going?”
“Same as when you called an hour ago.” “What’s up?”
“I’m just wondering if you’ve thought this through. Are you sure you want to be up in the cabin right now?”
I drifted away from Ron and towards the balcony, overlooking miles of sandy beach and crystal-clear waters. “I’m sure. Where else am I supposed to go?”
“You can come home,” Taylor suggested after a brief pause. “Look, I know Grant pushed too hard, too soon, but it doesn’t mean you have to leave. You can still come back.”
