SHELTER

Chapter 9

Dinner was entertaining. Once she'd adjusted to the crowd of new people her nerves had settled a lot quicker than she would have anticipated. By the time it was time to eat she almost felt at home. Not that she had ever had this kind of home experience.

Warren's Aunt Barb was a hoot. She was by no means what Jolie would consider elderly but the old woman was spryer than Jolie would have imagined. She was like a tiny, sarcastic Martha Stewart ninja and Jolie just loved her.

She'd happily fallen into the routine of cooking while chatting and sipping Barb's strong cider after she'd relieved Sue. Sue was funny and sweet but she was also hugely pregnant and clearly exhausted. Jolie had insisted she go relax in a more comfortable chair than the small stool in the kitchen she had been perched on. The other woman had put up a token fight but quickly given up in search of a cushioned seat.

The kitchen was warm and well situated. It was the kind of place Jolie had dreamed about when she imagined her home with Luke. She sadly remembered all the magazine clippings she had amassed in the little basket in the kitchen of the home they'd bought. Luke had told her to collect ideas for the renovations they would do together once he got home. Like everything else, she'd left them behind when she'd run. She briefly wondered how the new owners had renovated things.

"Those frown lines indicate thoughts much deeper than the process of making a cheese ball." Barb chuckled and continued to stir the turkey gravy before her. "Care to share? I'm a fantastic listener."

The small woman looked nothing like the few memories Jolie stored away for review of her own mother but she radiated paternal care. Her warm brown eyes conveyed years of wisdom.

"I was just admiring your kitchen and thinking about one I used to have."

"Sell it; lose it to the bank or other?"

Jolie sighed softly. "Sold it. I couldn't live in the house anymore after...." She swallowed and willed herself not to get emotional. She reminded herself that the reality of the situation was that she was going to have to talk about Luke at times and she'd better get used to it. "After my husband passed. There were too many memories."

"The kitchen is the heart of the home; it contains the essence of the family within it. We get a lot of ourselves wrapped up in those emotions and it's very hard when someone passes. I'm sure all you could feel was the loss of all the plans and hopes you'd had." She spoke matter-of-factly but Jolie still felt the compassion in the words.

"That is exactly it. Every room, especially the kitchen and our bedroom, was filled with the ghosts of all the dreams and plans we had made. I couldn't breathe there. I couldn't breathe in that town. I felt like I was going to implode." She'd never truly voiced those thoughts or emotions to anyone else and found herself both relieved and incredulous that she'd just revealed so much to a person she knew so briefly.

"I understand," Barb opened the oven and removed a foil covered glass dish. "We lost our first child. I couldn't open the nursery door months. I practically ran down the hall to our room. I was sure Hal was going to have me committed. It wasn't until I found out Beau was coming that I started to pull out of it."

"I'm so sorry." Jolie had no experience with losing a child but she knew loss well enough.

Barb waved a hot pad at her. "It was a long time ago. I struggled with my sister Lorraine's passing but Warren coming home and moving into the house helped. It brought a new life and new feeling to the whole place. He didn't change a lot but it was enough."

"I didn't know..." The other woman's revelation made sense of all the little things Jolie had noticed. like the little homey features of the house that didn't add up to Warren's simple, militaristic personality. "How long ago?"