Page 123 of When You Were Mine

“Your mom and dad loved you so much. You must miss them.”

Now, she was bawling. He wrapped his arms around her. Her body went hot and damp, and still, he held her. Let her cry it out for as long as she needed.

Maybe Cole and Hailey could talk about her parents more. Take her to the cemetery. She needed something. He just wasn’t sure what.

But when she pulled away, she angrily swiped away tears. “I don’t.”

“You don’t what, punkin?”

“I don’t miss them. I don’t remember them.”

He wanted to get it right but wasn’t sure what she meant. He lifted the photograph. “You remember your mom rocking you, but it’s like looking at a picture? You remember that she sang, but you can’t hear her voice or remember what her perfume smelled like?”

She nodded aggressively and started crying again.

“And you’re sad because you forgot what their voices sound like?”

“No. I’m sad because I’mmean. Because it hurts their feelings that I forget them.”

“Come here, punkin.” She shifted over to him, and he cupped her chin. “Listen to me. There’s not a mean bone in your body. You’re a smart, creative, compassionate young woman, and I’m very proud of you.”

She hiccupped, her little chest heaving.

“I want to explain something to you. There are a lot of ways to communicate with people. Do you know what I mean?”

Shaking her head, she lifted the hem of her shirt to dry her face.

“Okay, well, one way for me to communicate is to say, Paisley, I’m angry at you. Another way is, I can look at you like this.” He made an angry expression. “What’s another way?”

“You can ignore someone. That’s what Mrs. Powell does. If you do something bad, and you don’t apologize, she ignores you. Kayla Gentile was mad at me because she saw me eating an ice cream cone in town with Janelle and Delia, and now, she doesn’t look at me when she walks past me in the hall.”

“Wow, okay. That’s definitely a way to say you’re angry.”

She nodded.

“And there’s one more way to communicate.” He lifted her hand and placed it over her heart. “Your parents aren’t here anymore, so they can’t hear your words, and they can’t see your expressions. But they can feel you. The spirit of you. And if the spirit of you is about love, then that’s what you’re communicating to them. Does this make sense?”

“So, Mommy can’t see me when I give my broccoli to Maximus?”

He burst out laughing. “She can’t, but when you give Max your carrots, he poops them out, and we can tell that way. They also can’t see when you take M&M’s from Liza’s cup.”

Her cheeks flamed red. “You saw that?”

“Yeah, but it’s okay. She didn’t even notice. Next time you spill your candy though, just ask me for more, okay?”

“Okay. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. So, no, your parents can’t see that. But theycanfeel your love for them.”

“They’re not mad that I forget what they sound like?”

“They pick up the worry in your spirit, but no, they’re not mad about anything. Close your eyes, keep your hand on your heart, and tell me what they’re communicating to you right now?”

She went very still and did as he asked.

As he waited, curious what she would say, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Cole stood on the other side of the door, listening.

Paisley drew in a sharp breath. “They love me, and they miss me very much.”

---