Page 43 of Share with Me

It made no sense. Brinley hadn’t been away that long. This year had been the longest but she called home to the cottage every month, and usually ended up talking with Cara since nobody else was around most of the time. Brinley’s parents had often spoken of making the Sea Island home their main residence, but inevitably they’d end up in Europe somewhere.

“Is everything okay?” Brinley asked.

Cara looked at Brinley with sorrowful eyes. “Every time I see you, little one, I see Grandpa Brooks. You have his eyes. His chin.”

Brinley choked up.

“Someday we’ll see him again.” Cara came over to hug Brinley again.

“How can we be sure? Did he earn enough good points to get to heaven?”

Cara went around the island to make a plate of food for Brinley. “Well, your grandpa was a very good man. He did so much philanthropy in the communities up and down coastal Georgia. Restored historic buildings, preserved history, protected the environment, promoted the arts. Future generations will thank him for all those wonderful things he did in his lifetime.”

“But the one thing he couldn’t do was find the Damaris Brooks Stradivarius.”

“As expensive as that is, as old as that is, it’s only a thing, you know.” Cara stuck the plate into the microwave. “As we always say, people are more important than things.”

Brinley sat at the island and ate the reheated food silently.

“Your grandpa’s death was a loss to all of us, not just to you. But we have to carry on. Like your sister-in-law, Riley, has to carry on after her husband died.”

And just as Yun McMillan had to carry on alone for many years. She still talked about Otto.

I guess the memories don’t fade as quickly as some say.

“If you ever need to talk, little one, come to me, okay? You can tell me anything.”

Brinley nodded.

“We all go in different ways,” Cara continued.

“Do we all end up in the same place, though?” Brinley asked between bites.

“What do you mean?”

“After death?”

Cara looked at Brinley. “I don’t know, to be honest. I don’t think that far ahead, Brin. I’ve been busy living in the here and now.”

“Me too. But if you ever have to think about it—”

“I don’t.” Cara snapped the lids on the containers and put them back neatly into the refrigerator. “Why worry about it? There’s no certainty, anyway.”

“That’s the point, Cara. Don’t you want to be certain where you’re going?”

“This is getting into religion, and you know me. I don’t talk about religion. I tell my entire family to keep it practical.”

“It’s life and death. I’m just looking for answers.”

“I don’t even know what your question is.” Cara slid a plate of apple pie in front of Brinley. “Here. Have some pie.”

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