TWENTY-EIGHT AND A HALF WISHES (A ROSE GARDNER MYSTERY, BOOK 1)

CHAPTER NINE

Chapter Nine

  

The next afternoon Violet showed up at my door, her arms loaded with clothes.

“We’re supposed to be taking clothes out, not in,” I said as I held the door open for her.

She took one look at me and raised her eyebrows. “What are you wearing? Where did you get that?”

I had on a pair of jeans that Momma never would have approved of and a cute t-shirt that actually clung to the curves of my body. “I bought it yesterday and some other clothes too. I decided to embrace the new me.”

I expected to embrace Violet’s wrath with my proclamation, but she surprised me by eyeing me from head to toe, her arms still full. “I approve. Very cute. You might not need these after all.”

“What is all that?” I asked as she dumped them on the kitchen table.

“Some of my clothes, for you to wear on your date tonight. But we’ll check out what you got later.”

We headed back to Momma’s room. Violet threw open the heavy drapes to let the sunlight in and dust flew in all directions.

“You would think the woman was a vampire the way she kept this room so cave-like.” Violet said, looking outside. “Hey, who’s the woman in Joe’s backyard?”

I moved to the window. “Don't ask.” I noticed her dog bounding around the yard. It occurred to me her dog had been the dog in my vision about Joe and his fence.

Violet turned to me and put her hand on her hip. “But didn’t you and Joe—"

“I said don't ask.” I turned my back to her as I began to tape one of the multitude of boxes I bought earlier that morning.

We spent the afternoon going through Momma’s drawers and closet, pulling out clothes and putting them in boxes. I had considered using garbage bags, but it seemed so irreverent. It was distressing enough to dispose of the contents of a person’s life. In the end, trash bag or cardboard box, it didn't matter. A lifetime of possessions were just gone.

When I voiced my thoughts to Violet, she snorted. “Please. Momma got everything she deserved and not enough if you ask me. Her will is livin’ proof of that.”

“But Aunt Bessie said that we didn’t know everything. She said Daddy did something that nearly broke Momma.”

Violet stopped folding the pants in her hands. “Daddy never hurt a soul. How could his own sister say that?”

I shrugged. “I pretty much told her the same thing, but Aunt Bessie said I’d want answers some day and she would tell me what she knew. She said Momma had a reason for being the way she was.”

Violet scowled. “I cannot believe you are defendin’ her, especially after what she did to you.” She took the pants and spiked them into the box next to her to prove her point. “I’m still going to make this right, by the way.”

“But Violet, what if it’s true. What if Momma had an excuse for doing what she did.”

Anger burned in Violet’s eyes. “I don’t care what happened to her. There is no reason that could excuse the way she treated us, most of all you.”

Her tone told me she refused to discuss it any further. I was fine with that. I didn't like to think of Daddy doing anything so bad he could break someone.

Boxing up Momma’s possessions was an easy job since we never considered keeping anything, not even for a memento. At five o’clock, Violet announced we were done for the day even though we hadn’t finished everything.