Four Hearts

Chapter 26

Allegra

All she had to work with was a small sewing kit Violet kept in her room to mend her husband's and son's work clothes. It wasn't ideal, but anything was better than having her father walk in and take everything over. Even if it meant she has to stitch everything by hand. The fabric was neatly organized in the bags exactly as she had on her list, making it easy to find what she needed for each outfit. She's sitting at the kitchen table as she cuts the fabric Milena's dress with her notepad opened to the design. Zain and Cedric had left with Radley to help him work in the fields. Milena went with Lily to trade recipes at the bakery. Violet had taken Sean and went out to gather extra items for their Winter Solstice dinner. She had the house to herself. She was able to work in peace.

Thoughts of the old woman at the fabric store ran through her head. She knows my mother. How does she know my mother? I barely know my mother. Did she come from here and just never say? That doesn't seem like it. No one else in town has mentioned her. If that woman could the resemblance, so could someone else. Ugh, this is gonna drive me crazy. I should march down to that store right now and get some answers.

She looks around at her makeshift workstation for plans with no luck. She shakes her head, "Did I seriously forget pins?"

Allegra looks up from her work and scans the nearby living room. In the corner of the room is a desk where she had gotten the sewing kit from. Maybe she has some pins in those drawers too. She leaves her workstation to go to the living room. The desk is next to the couch with a fireplace nearby. On the opposite side of the couch is a magic-powered keyboard that looks as if it hasn't been used in over a decade.

She pulls open the top drawer of the desk where she saw the sewing kit come from. Right on top is a binder labeled 'Memories'. Allegra lets her curiosity get the best of her and sits down on the couch with the binder in her lap. She opens it up and is greeted to smiling faces in photographs, most of which she didn't recognize. She laughed at the sight of Cedric when he was younger. A hole was in his smile where his front tooth had yet to grow in. Allegra continued to look through the binder when she comes across a white paper.

"For parents' eyes only," she read aloud.

Allegra flipped over to the next page of photos and was greeted to a picture of Violet and Radley at their wedding. Below, was a picture of their wedding party. There was two grown men that Allegra didn't recognize in the picture standing in the back. Next to those men was Milena's father. In front of her father was a picture of Milena's mother, who was standing next to the infamous Selene Holland. And on the end of the row of girls, Allegra found her mother. She was much younger, but still recognizable. Her short hair and bracelets matched her up with the description the old woman had given her.

"My mother was at their wedding," Allegra thinks. "She knew them. She knew the Belleroses. She knew Selene Holland."

Milena

The hot kitchen was one way to warm her up after being out in the cool, early winter air. Milena is currently leaning up against the counter as she waits for her cupcakes to bake. Next to her is a bowl of frosting that she made with ravenleaf, an herb named after the forest it grows in that helps ease stress with little flavor. with little flavor. The timer on the oven went off, and Milena was quite to take out her baker's dozen. She enjoys the smell of the fresh cake while it cools down enough for her to add the frosting. Once the cupcakes were finished, frosting and all, Milena takes one to bring to the front counter of the bakery.

Lily was wiping down the white countertop when Milena comes out with the cupcake. The bakery was completely empty today. Something Lily made it seem like a common occurrence when they were walking over here so she could open the shop. No other workers had shown up since they had been there.