Page 3 of Forever Home

Brushing off my hands, I make a beeline for my cell phone sitting on the counter. I expect a text from Mom letting me know that she’s running late, but instead I see nothing. My mind instantly goes to the worst-case scenario—my mother is never late for anything.

Right before I dial my mother’s number, the back door opening pulls my attention. I turn to see my mother looking more frazzled than I can ever remember. Her hair’s pulled back as usual, but loose strands linger around her face. And the dark circles under red-rimmed eyes point to signs that something terrible had happened.

“Mom, what’s wrong?”

Chapter Two: Madison

Unease creeps in as my mom is quiet for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she closes the door behind her and makes her way towards me, her purse underneath her arm and a somber expression on her face.

“It’s Mrs. Kendall,” she starts, taking a seat on a stool near the kitchen counter. “She passed away.”

“What?” Shock fills me at her words. My old neighbor was an amazing woman and the reason my childhood friends and I kept out of trouble. At least for the most part. She was the glue that we never really knew we had. “How— I mean…like, what happened?”

“Well, it seems that her doctor received a notification when her pacemaker stopped working and sent an ambulance out to her location.”

My heart hurts for my mother. She has known the old lady her entire life because her mother had been friends with her. Losing the woman must be like losing my grandmother all over again.

Wrapping my arms around her, I pull her into a tight hug. “I’m so sorry, Mom. Did she pass in her sleep?”

“Yes. I had to let the EMTs in when she wouldn’t open the front door. She was already gone when they got to her.” She shakes her head, her hand falling to her chest as tears linger in her eyes. “The whole thing is so heartbreaking.”

I try my best to hold back my emotions. But the pain over losing Mrs. Kendall and then seeing my mother so upset unleashes a flood I can’t hold back. We hug each other, silent tears pouring down both our cheeks as we remember the old lady who changed so much of our lives. Not to mention the memories we made with her. Moments that may be over but will never be forgotten.

It isn’t until the timer on the oven buzzes that we’re both brought out of our grief. Pulling away from my mother, I rub the backs of my hands over my eyes to wipe away the trails of tears that still linger there. “I better get that…”

“Yes, yes,” she replies, standing. She tucks her purse in the usual place, then takes her jacket off and shakes it with such force you’d think it was covered in sand or something. “Right. Well.” She smooths her hair into place, her voice suddenly all business. “As sad as it is, we can’t wallow all day. The doors will be open soon, and I’m sure there’s still so much left to do since I wasn’t here to help you.”

Closing the oven door, I pause. My heart sinks at the brisk tone of my mother’s voice, knowing full well that she is just trying to mask her feelings. I also know better than to talk about something she isn’t ready to. “Well, lucky for us, I was in a baking mood this morning and went crazy.”

Turning with a smile, I watch as her eyes fall to the danishes on the baking tray before gazing at the rest of the cooling racks in the kitchen. “You did all this?”

“Well, yeah…” I shrug nonchalantly. “I prepped some of the stuff last night before I headed up to bed and then made the rest this morning when I got up. We can just say that I had a restless night.”

Laughter escapes me as I place the oven mitts onto the counter and face my mother once more. “Everything happens for a reason, Mom… even when ithurts a lot.”

I don’t entirely believe what I said, at least not in this kind of situation, but I know it’s something Mrs. Kendall would have said if she was still alive. The platitude seems to touch my mother in a way I may never understand. If that’s what it takes to make her feel even a fraction better, then so be it.

She nods, her thin lips turning into a small smile as she reaches for her apron that hangs on the hook near the phone. “You’re right. Why don’t we finish what’s left and get this store open? I’m sure it’s going to be a very busy morning. She was well known in the community… Everyone will look to gather to remember her.”

My mother wasn’t wrong about that. The old lady has always been a very important member of our small town and now that she’s gone, I can’t help but wonder how most of us will go on without her.

As my mother begins taking the cooled trays towards the front glass counter, I busy myself with a batch of blueberry muffins. As I always do, I fill the baking cups one by one, but this time, something about the blueberry muffin recipe causes my heart to sink into my stomach.

A vision of Mrs. Kendall comes into my mind. The first time I’d properly met her, sitting outside my home on the curb the day of my grandmother’s funeral. I’d spent all day crying, wondering how my mother and I would manage without grandma, and then, like an angel I didn’t know I needed, she stepped into view with a smile on her face and a warm blueberry muffin.

“Why are you sitting out here, Madison?”

I rub the back of my hand across my face and sniffle. “I don’t want mama to see me crying again. She gets super sad when she sees me crying.”

Mrs. Kendall’s kind blue eyes stare down at me with understanding. “Well, I’m sure everything is going to be fine.”

“You don’t know that, though… No one can know that.” I sniffle once more.

Bending down to my level, she meets my eyes straight on. Her warm smile only widens further as she holds out the muffin. “Take it, and I’ll tell you how I know.”

Hesitation fills me, but I do as she says. My fingers wrap slowly around the muffin in her hands as if it might disappear if I rushed. I pull it towards meand begin picking the sugared topping off, placing it in my mouth.

“Is it good?”

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