A smile touches my lips when my eyes settle on a picture of her and my father lounging back against a tree. They’re both facing forward, leaning against each other with smiles on their faces. They look young and happy.
“I remember that day,” Mae says wistfully, interrupting my thoughts. She’s sitting on the couch a couple of feet from me. “We all went out for a picnic. We had to hide Macy and Aiden’s relationship from the town because everyone knew she was promised to Michael. If he got word, we knew there would be trouble. Dale, Macy, Aiden, and I went on a picnic where no one would see.” Mae smiles. “Macy was so happy that day.”
I look back down at the picture and run my finger over my mother’s face. “What was she like?”
“All of the pictures you’re looking at she developed herself. She loved taking photos from an early age. We turned one of our spare rooms into a black room and presented it to her for her thirteenth birthday. The look on her face when she saw it….” Mae trails off. “She was always in that room developing one picture or another.”
“What else?” I ask, unable to keep the eagerness from my tone.
“Her favorite flowers were Daisies.” Mae looks at me with a sad smile. “That’s where your name came from.”
Something sharp pierces the center of my chest, and I suck in a breath at the force. I’ve always associated my name with pain and terror because that’s what I felt when Aziah’s father used it. The first time I heard Deacon say it with that horrible look in his eyes, was the first time I hated my name. Knowing I shunned the name Macy lovingly gave has my heart feeling unbearably heavy.
“It’s okay, Rella,” Mae says quietly. “She would have understood why you and Trouble wanted to change your names.”
I nod, but it still doesn’t make the guilt go away.
“What about our father?”
“Except for The Hill, Dale and I didn’t leave the house much. Neither of us could stand the thought of being around people who could so easily hurt children in such horrific ways. And we certainly didn’t want Macy around them. We tried shielding her as much as possible. The first time she met Aiden was one of the rare times we took her to the park. He was there with his parents. He accidentally tripped her on the playground.” Mae laughs. “I could tell he was sorry, but Macy held a grudge and snubbed his apologies.”
I smile. I may not have ever known my mother, but I could just imagine a little girl with a scraped knee or elbow, but having her feelings hurt more, then hating the boy who hurt them.
“It was a month later before we took her back to the park. He was there again. When Macy continued to give him the cold shoulder, poor little Aiden started to cry. He was so upset she wouldn’t talk to him. His tears were what finally got through to her. She walked up to him and patted his shoulder, telling him she forgave him. From that day on, she begged Dale and I to take her back to the park every day so she could see him. She claimed him as her best friend.”
I laugh, loving this insight to the beginning of Trouble and my parent’s relationship.
“Whatever happened to Aiden’s parents?”
She frowns, the merriment sliding from her face. “They were arrested the night of the raid. Last I heard, they’re both still in prison. I hope they rot there,” she finishes on a mutter.
Not needing to hear any more about my paternal grandparents, I look back down at the album in my lap. I turn to the next page, and my breath catches. Seated on a loveseat side by side, is Macy and Aiden. Mom’s holding an infant while Dad holds a toddler. Both are looking down at Trouble and me in their arms with soft smiles filled with love. My tiny hand is gripping one of Trouble’s little fingers.
“That was a week after Macy had you.”
I look up at Mae just in time to see her wipe a tear from her cheek. My heart squeezes at the torment in her eyes.
“You two were always so close. Trouble took great pride in being your big brother, and took his duty to protect you very seriously. Especially after Macy and Aiden were gone. His memories of your parents faded over time, but he never lost the need to protect his little sister. I would have kept their memory alive for you both, but Donald and Sandra rarely let Dale and I see you.”
I blink rapidly to force back my tears. I set the book down on the coffee table and turn to face Mae. Tentatively, I reach out and lay my hand on top of hers. Her startled gaze flies to me.
“I’m devastated I’ll never get the chance to meet the people who gave life to Trouble and me, but it makes it easier knowing they were good people who loved us.”
“They adored you both so much,” Mae states.
I swallow past the lump in my throat and let go of her hand. Before I lose my nerve, I launch myself forward and wrap my arms around my grandmother’s shoulders. She’s so shocked by my sudden movement that it takes her a moment to fold me into her arms. Once she does, I let out a long stuttering breath, regretting that it’s taken me this long to feel Mae close to me again.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
EMO
I SIT ON THE COUCH AND watch Rella play with Elijah on the floor. Every time she smiles, it makes my own lips want to tug upward. Every time she laughs at something Elijah does, a tiny light flickers on inside me.
Rella seems the happiest when she’s with the toddler, but I still sense a bit of sadness in her. It’s when she’s not actively playing with him and is just watching. Sometimes when I come from the shower, I find her at the window, just staring outside. I see the same sadness during those times as well.
Elijah squeals loudly as Rella tickles his sides. He’s on his back and his legs kick out, whacking her arms.
“You’re such a cutie patootie,” she says, laughing down at him. A moment later, she leans back and wrinkles her nose. “Whoa there, buddy. Someone’s also rotten.”