Annabelle
The day after Luke’s visit to the clubhouse, Kathleen showed up to Phoenix’s house for a surprise visit. She immediately pulled me into her arms and we both burst into tears.
“Oh, my sweet friend, I’ve thought about you often over the years,” she said.
“Same here. I don’t even want to know what my life would’ve been like if it weren’t for you,” I confessed.
She waved her hand dismissively. “That was all you, sweetheart. I didn’t do anything other than call my brother and drive you to the hospital.”
I smiled at her modesty. “We’ll have to agree to disagree on that.”
Phoenix entered the room to tell me he would be in his office at the clubhouse for most of the day. “Before you go,” Kathleen said as she stood and whispered something in Phoenix’s ear.
He smiled and nodded before walking out the front door. Kathleen turned back to me. “Just wait.”
Moments later, Phoenix reentered the house carrying two large boxes. He placed them on the floor by Kathleen’s feet, kissed me on the cheek, and left for the office.
Kathleen opened the box on top and said, “I know I shouldn’t have, but I kept the things you brought over the day you left.” She removed a much smaller box and handed it to me. “I never opened it, so if this isn’t a welcome surprise, I’ll take it back and never mention it again.”
I shook my head and fought back the tears. “It’s very welcome. Thank you,” I whispered.
She reached out and patted my hand. “If you want to save that one for later, it won’t hurt my feelings any.”
I sniffled and nodded. “If you don’t mind, I would like to look through it with Phoenix. It’s full of mementos and things from the year we were together,” I explained.
“I completely understand. There’s plenty more we can look through together, but let’s finish with this box first.”
I didn’t understand what she meant until she carefully pulled my old Christmas tree from the box. “My tree,” I gasped.
“I saw it when I unpacked the toys for Coal. Obviously, it was special to you and I’ve never been able to bring myself to throw out Christmas decorations. We put it up in Coal’s bedroom every year. Even though none of us knew it at the time, a part of you was with him each Christmas.”
Once again, I turned into a blubbering mess. “I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”
“You don’t have to. As a mother, I already know.”
She gave me some time to get myself together before she declared it time to open the second box. “I like to take pictures. A lot of pictures,” she said as she pulled several books from the box. “Each one of these books represents a year of Coal’s life. Around 10 years ago, I got a coupon to create a photo book online for free. After I did one, I was hooked. I went back and did one for each year of his life and continued to do one as each year passed. And since each book was saved in my order history, it was a piece of cake for me to go in and order a set for you, which I did last night. I ordered a set for Phoenix after we found out he was Coal’s biological father and his set should be here this week,” she explained as she handed the first book to me.
I was blown away by her thoughtfulness. Instead of being defensive or threatened by us, she was welcoming me and Phoenix with open arms. At a total loss for words, I focused on the pages before me and spent the next few hours watching my son grow from an adorable infant to a handsome young man.
“Now, I can’t promise anything, but I made a few calls to some of the women who used to look after the children at the daycare on the farm. Many of them were living on the property because of their husbands’ misdeeds and took Ember up on her offer to provide housing and help them get back on their feet after the farm was raided last year. Anyway, I’ve asked all the ones I could get in touch with to look through their things and send me any pictures they have of Ember so I can put together a few books of her for you.”
“Oh, Kathleen, I would love that. Thank you so, so much!” I cried.
“You’re quite welcome,” she said and settled back into the sofa. “Now, tell me about your life after you got out of Croftridge. Coal wouldn’t tell me diddly-squat.”
I laughed and said, “Let me get us some coffee and I’ll tell you everything.” And for the rest of the day, I did just that.
Kathleen stayed until Phoenix returned from the clubhouse. We made plans to get together for lunch the following week before she went home to her family.
“Did you two have a fun day?” Phoenix asked over dinner.
“We did. She brought some things over for me that I want to show you when we’re finished eating.”
He gave me a funny look before he nodded and told me about his day.
After dinner, he made himself comfortable on the sofa while I slid the large box in front of him before taking a seat at his side.
“Okay, close your eyes,” I told him.
“Why?” he asked.
I huffed with impatience. “Just do it.”
After several rounds of bantering back and forth, he finally gave in and closed his eyes. I removed my tree from the box and placed it on the coffee table. “Okay, open your eyes.”
He did and his eyes widened immediately. “How did Kathleen get your tree?”
“The day she helped me escape, I showed up at her house with a box of things that were special to me. I told her I couldn’t bear to leave them with Octavius and asked her if she would take care of them for me. I meant throw them out, but she hid them away in her house instead.”
“There’s more than the tree?” he asked.
I nodded and pulled out the smaller box. “This box is full of our memories, from our year together. I haven’t opened it yet. I wanted to wait and do it together,” I explained.
He lifted his arm and looked at me expectantly. “Get in here, woman. I want to see what’s in that box.”
I giggled and snuggled up next to him, placing the box in my lap. Taking in a deep breath, I slowly removed the lid and was immediately transported back in time. The box was full of notes, ticket stubs, pictures, greeting cards, trinkets, even my Homecoming queen sash was in it. We spent hours looking at every item and reliving the memories associated with each one.
“I can’t believe you kept all this stuff,” Phoenix admitted.
“Technically, I didn’t. Kathleen did,” I pointed out.
“Well, I’m glad she did.”
“Yeah, me, too,” I agreed.
Phoenix held up one of the last pictures taken of us. “It was only a year, but we made it one hell of a year, didn’t we, doll face?”
I smiled wistfully. “We sure did.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“You just did.”
He snorted at my smart remark. “What happened to the phoenix necklace and earrings I gave you?”
I grinned. “I was told I could only take what I had on me when I left, so I made sure to wear them that day. I have them locked away in a safe at my house in California. What about your drawing? Do you still have it?”
He chuckled. “You haven’t noticed it?”
“Obviously not. Where is it?”
“It’s in the bedroom,” he said on a laugh. “Guess I’ve been doing something right.”