Page 54 of Love Story
“Look at this.” Landon chuckled and gazed at the stacks of boxes that made up one end of the oversized garage. “It’s a firetrap, for sure.”
Ashley winced, hands on her hips. There had to be thirty boxes along with some broken furniture. “I can see what you mean.” She bent down and read the writing on the nearest one. “Old Dishes.” She allowed a soft laugh. “My sweet mom. She didn’t throw away a single thing.”
“That’s what your dad said.” Landon found a folding table from the other side of the garage and set it up. “We can use this to go through everything.” He pointed to a large trash bin near the open garage door. “And that...”
“That...” She couldn’t agree more. “We’ll use that to throw away anything we don’t—”
“Absolutely need!”
They finished the last part together. Then Landon grabbed the first box and set it on the table.
This one was full of Erin’s schoolwork, hundreds of pages of math, spelling, science and English, along with art projects from kindergarten through high school. Ashley knew this task would be emotional at times. But she didn’t expect the first items to belong to Erin. She spread stacks of the documents across the table. A’s decorated the tops of many of them. “She and Brooke were always the best at school.”
Landon smiled at her. “Except for art. You had to be the best at that.” He always knew how to make her feel good. Even in these recent days when she so badly doubted herself.
“Possibly.” She smiled at him. “Thank you.” A colored page caught Ashley’s attention and she picked it up. It was an art project Erin had done when she was in second grade. Ashley could tell because of the teacher’s name at the top. Mrs. Isaacson. All the Baxter kids had gone through second grade with Mrs. Isaacson.
“What is it?” Landon came up beside her.
The picture showed a color drawing of the entire Baxter family—everyone except Dayne, of course. Their parents, and the five siblings who had grown up together. At the bottom of the piece, Erin had written: “My family is the best in the whole wide world.”
“She sure loved being a Baxter.” Landon eased Ashley closer to him. “I can’t see throwing that away.”
“No.” Ashley blinked back her tears. “I’ll save these for Amy. My dad has a box of Erin’s journals he’s going to give her when she graduates from high school. Otherwise... Dad said to get rid of it. There’s only so much you can save.”
“Mmm.” Landon took the drawing from Ashley and set it on the table. Then he pulled her to himself. “You don’t know how attractive that is, Ash. A woman who wants to get rid of stuff that’s been sitting here gathering dust for years.” He kissed her and grinned at her with flirty eyes. “Let’s get this thing done!”
Progress on the first few boxes was slow. But then they found an assortment of old towels—all of which had gotten moldy over the years. And suddenly they were making a dent in the pile. While they worked, Ashley gave Landon a rundown on the rest of the family.
Dayne and Katy and their family were planning to spend the summer in Bloomington. “They’re between films, so this is perfect.” Ashley opened the lid of the next box and peered inside. Tablecloths, maybe. Or moving blankets from who knows how far back. “Goodwill.”
“Nice.” Landon pointed to the empty spot next to the trash bin. “Start a fresh stack.”
The conversation continued. Brooke and Peter were celebrating their anniversary next week, and their girls were ready for summer vacation.
“Especially Maddie, right?” Landon smiled in Ashley’s direction. “She and Connor Flanigan still dating?”
“They’re taking a break.” Ashley raised her brow. “This summer should be interesting for sure. Brooke thinks Maddie and Connor will get back together. If she’s right, how amazing would that be if they got married someday? The Baxters and Flanigans, forever connected.” She brushed her hair from her eyes. “I love it.”
Ashley remembered how the two families came together so long ago. It was through Bloomington’s Christian Kids Theater. Ashley had volunteered to paint sets and in doing so she became friends with Katy Hart—a young teacher at the theater. Katy lived with the Flanigans and was like part of their family.
And of course, now Katy was married to their brother Dayne. So in some ways the Baxters and Flanigans would always be connected.
Over the next hour, Ashley talked about her sisters and brothers and all of their kids. Everyone would be busy this summer. Especially Kari and Ryan’s son,RJ, who had been chosen to play baseball for a competitive team from Indianapolis. The drive wouldn’t be fun, butRJ’scoach believed he had potential to one day play in the big leagues.
“What about Luke? He’s coming to the Memorial Day barbecue, right?” Landon lifted another box up onto the table and dusted off his hands.
“Their whole family’s coming.” Ashley couldn’t wait for the celebration. Times when they were all together were less often these days, now that the nieces and nephews were so busy. But they were more special than ever. “Luke’s been handling some interesting religious freedom cases in the city. It’s becoming a crime to pray in public.”
Landon shook his head. “Our founding fathers would be furious.”
“Exactly.” She opened another box. “You’ll have to ask Luke about it when he’s here.” She peered into the container and hesitated. What was this? Broken dishes? “Landon, look.”
He helped her lift several dishes and glass pitchers from the wrapping. All of them had—at one time—been very beautiful. But now they all had one thing in common. They were broken. Broken and patched up.
Ashley took a pitcher from the box and ran her hand over it. There was something very familiar about it. She studied it, the beautiful white-gray porcelain and the designs woven into it. Where had she seen it before?
A large chip had fallen from the mouth of the vessel and at one point the handle had broken off. Somewhere along the journey of raising their family, Ashley’s mother must’ve bought glue and put the thing back together again.
