Picturesque

Chapter 21: Rosewood

It was a beautiful Sunday morning. I learned that the Donnelley's only sometimes go to church, and today was one of those days. I loved when they were gone, as much as I felt guilty to admit it. Everyone seemed calmer. Flo could finally relax and go visit her brother who lived upstate. The cooks and cleaners could kick their feet up on the patio and take in the sun. It was quieter without Holly and Judd running around.

I decided to go outside to write that morning, off to my little area which I had discreetly claimed as my own. I sat on the white bench that was sat against a large tree. A bird fountain stood across from it, along with another flower bed with big gray rocks lining it. It was a cozy, shaded area that could barely be seen from the back patio. Birds liked this area, too, and every now and then I would look up from my writing to see a bird sitting on the fountain, dipping its beak in the water and chirping.

Mama and I used to watch birds together on Sundays after church. We'd go to the park, sometimes with ice cream, and just watch all the birds. Louisiana had tons of beautiful birds with deep, whistling chirps. The Californian birds were smaller with different tones and whistles, but beautiful all the same.

I didn't try to call Mama after that, and I thought of her way less often. I had even hidden the Western Electric phone inside the desk to mitigate thoughts about her even more. I thought much less of Greg, too, though I still kept the picture in my underwear drawer and glanced at it sometimes. I thought even less of Georgia now. That night in the pool with Jo had unlocked something within me, though the conversation short and aggravated.

Jo didn't speak much of it in the two weeks that followed. She still hung around the house more, except there were a few days where no one heard from her at all, and she suddenly reappeared looking tired and distressed. She would sleep a whole day after that. Not even Flo could wake her up for dinner. We had normal conversations. She joined in on French class again. She sometimes poked me at the dinner table when she was there. I had went with them last weekend to Manor Farm again, but Jo went off with Willow the entire time, and I stayed with the kids petting the other horses. Marty was busier with a new business deal that was happening, and Katie seemed to ignore me even harder than she did before.

I wrote about these things as I sat under that tree, and I was so involved in my writing that I didn't even notice Jo coming up to me until she sat down right beside me on the bench.

"Oh," I said, slapping my journal closed. She was holding two glasses of lemonade with ice cubes in them.

"Thought you could use some lemonade. It's awfully hot today," she said quietly, with a hint of embarrassment. It was odd, honestly, seeing Jo bringing me some lemonade as if I were her child that refused to go inside on a hot summer day.

"Thank you," I said, taking the cold glass with a gracious smile.

"Why don't you come inside? I found my old chessboard. We could play that for a while," she said as she bunched her knees up under herself, her bare feet holding onto the edge of the bench. She took a sip of the lemonade and let her eyes stray anywhere but me.

"It's nice out, even though it is hot," I said, taking a sip of the lemonade that was much less sweet than how Mama made it. I looked up at the sun that filtered softly through the trees, a small breeze swaying their leaves.

"We have some bicycles. We could go ride up the street—there's lots of hills, so it's really fun." She looked at me eagerly, and it reminded me of when Greg used to beg me to go riding on boring summer days. That same childish delight of hoping to do something fun with a friend, so evident in this young woman's eyes. It was strange seeing that in Jo, but it looked good on her. She was a child at heart, after all.