Annie stands on the curb at the greyhound bus station and holds her old handled suitcase to her chest as a newer rolling one sits nearby. The skirt of her dress rustles in the breeze as her mom's old knit cardigan slips off one shoulder, but she doesn't move. Instead she stands there and absorbs the moment, taking a deep breath in and smiling to herself.
She'd done it.
She'd finally bit the bullet and moved north.
It had taken her longer than she'd expected, with her mom getting sick her last year of high school and Jimmy's death three years later from an overdose, a result of trying and failing to cope with their mom's illness.
After that Annie had decided to wait until their younger sister, Dilly, graduated high school to strike out on her own. Then her mom got sick again and this time decided she should go be with Jimmy.
Annie didn't blame her. The cancer was metastatic, treatment would have just extended her suffering and Annie felt she deserved to be free of the pain. Free of the grief. Free of her constant unhappiness.
That was a year ago.
Now twenty four years old and with her dad doing well and her younger sister doing even better at a local community college working to get her nursing degree, Annie finally felt she could go do what she wanted to do.
Go find her own happiness.
Granted, Annie came by happiness naturally wherever she was, but ever since that discussion with Jimmy about the Sugar Maple trees she'd become obsessed with one day seeing them in person. Watching her family fall apart and her brother die had only made it that much more important to her.
It had only been a few weeks ago that her sister came in and set a print out from the computer down on the kitchen counter while Annie was preparing dinner. Dilly had come across a job for a cafeteria aid in a dining hall and grill at a University in New Haven.
At first Annie said no. Dilly thought it was because she didn't want to leave her and her dad alone, but really it was because there was mention of a preferred two years of college and Annie never went to college. She'd been too busy trying to be the glue her family needed to go to college.
Dilly argued until she was blue in the face about how her and daddy would be okay, until Annie finally admitted the real reason she wouldn't apply for the job. Then Dilly argued Annie's job in the high school cafeteria for the last six years had to amount to something.
Annie had helped out in the school cafeteria her senior year of high school after turning eighteen. It was a temporary job to help supplement income while their mom went through treatment. Upon graduating she was offered a full time position and accepted without hesitation. It wasn't her dream job, but then again Annie wasn't particular when it came to what she did.
One day after another argument with Dilly, her dad looked at her from his old rocking chair on the front porch. "Annie, yer happiness has always been more about where you are and who yer with. How long have you dreamed about one of those damn trees? Fill out the application."
Annie didn't fuss or argue back, she'd just sat quietly with her dad in contemplation while staring across the yard at the spot where her and Jimmy had watched the fireflies that one summer evening.
The next day she completed the application. Which started three weeks of a whirlwind of activity. She did the interviews remotely and made it through all of them rather successfully. Each time she got a little further, she allowed herself to dream a little more about Autumn in New England.
When she finally got the job, her sister surprised her with a handmade quilt of a Fall Sugar Maple tree. Her mom had cut out all of the leaves with the intention of making it for Annie for her senior year of high school, but never finished it. So Dilly had.
Annie hugs her suitcase to her chest a little tighter and smiles again. This time not only with happiness she's finally made it, but with sadness her mom and Jimmy are witnessing it from above. Instead of her being able to call them and tell them all about it.
"Annie Miller?"
Annie blinks out of her thoughts and turns to find a stout older woman with her hair in a high bun standing behind her.
"Yes?" Annie says, dropping her suitcase by her side.
"I'm Loretta Jenkins, Frank Keller's assistant." The woman smiles tightly and holds out a hand.
Annie takes her hand and nods, "So nice to meet you, Mrs. Jenkins."
"Oh, now, none of that Mrs. stuff, it makes me feel old. Call me Loretta." She shakes her head and grabs Annie's rolling suitcase. "Is this everything? What do you say we get you settled in? I've got to make a stop along the way."
Annie follows the woman to a white Honda Civic where they place her bags in the trunk and climb in to start their journey.
"Gillian knows you're coming. She's got a room ready for you and two sets of keys waiting in an envelope, tucked in the front mail slot in the hall." The woman say's putting the car into drive.
The University had been nice enough to help Annie secure a room for rent within walking distance of the campus. Annie didn't think the old beat-up ford truck she'd inherited from GrandPap would make the journey, so she'd left it at home for Dilly who'd previously just shared cars with Annie and her dad.
Annie looks at the woman beside her curiously, assessing her. She's a no-nonsense kind of woman. The efficient, direct kind of person that doesn't like small talk. It could be age or maybe a New England thing, Annie can't tell.
"You said we have to make a stop first?" Annie asks, getting a whiff of the covered food in the back seat.
"Yes, Mr. Keller is gifting a few trays of food for the Professor Emeritus' party this evening a short distance from Gillian's."
"Oh, okay." Annie nods. "What'd they make?"
"A few finger foods and a sheet cake."
"A sheet cake?" Annie's eyebrow furrows. "That's not much of a gift, is it?"
The woman looks briefly at Annie before turning back to the road. "Why? What would you have made?"
"A pie, a cobbler or a layered chocolate cake, at least!" Annie's eyebrows raise in quick succession.
What on earth kind of hospitality was a basic sheet cake that takes the minimum amount of time to make?
Loretta fights a smile causing Annie to feel one dancing across her own face.
"Annie, I have a feeling having you around is going to be a lot of fun." The woman says mischievously.
Annie could only hope that was a good thing and maybe she'd misjudged the woman beside her. Unfortunately it just made her nerves worse as she envisioned a cat in a room full of rockers. She would have said as much, but she decided it was best to keep quiet the rest of the drive.
Once they'd dropped the food off, Loretta and Annie made their way to Gillian's house. It's a three story Victorian home set in the middle of old brick buildings. It looks and operates like a bed and breakfast, but the owner occasionally allows long term room rental agreements for new University employees.
Climbing the stairs with her suitcases to the third floor behind Loretta, Annie quietly takes in a deep breath. It feels like she packed bricks in her bags, but her fatigue is to be expected with the long travel day.
"Works like a charm." Loretta says, pulling the keys out of the lock before handing them over to Annie as she pushes the door open wider.
Annie quietly steps past her into the room and looks around. The whole house carries that smell of an older, worn and settled home. The smell of time mingles underneath the spice of cinnamon and balm of vanilla cream from the Scent Plugs that dot the hallways.
"It's not much, but it'll do." Loretta comments.
The room has been moderately updated. The floors are original wood, but the walls are beige as opposed to wallpapered. The bed is a dark rich oak color with white sheets, a tan waffle blanket and a cream colored quilt. Two large windows make up the wall opposite of Annie with an old barn photo nestled between them. On the opposite wall from the bed sits an antique oak armoire and in the corner is a wingback chair covered in rich, dark colors.
Annie turns as she takes the room in. When she gets back to the door, she notices a tall dresser sitting to the left of it and just over top a painting. The painting is of a Sugar Maple tree in Autumn.
Her hand tightens on the handle of her old worn suitcase once more, which holds the blanket her mom had started for her and Dilly had finished. She smiles as her eyes fill with tears and whispers. "It's perfect."
Annie had always come by happiness naturally, but it's bittersweet now.