Touched (The Untouched Trilogy #2)(30)

I still had my keys to the house which I had always kept on my key ring for some odd reason. I didn’t feel comfortable using the key so I reached for the doorbell. Lia opened the door before I could press the button. She rushed into my arms followed by Bianca. We all stood in front of the door weeping and consoling each other. I looked up to see Miss Warner standing in the doorway and released the girls to greet her.

“I’m so sorry Aria,” she said.

“Thank you Miss Warner and thanks for sitting with Lia and Bianca.”

“There’s no need to thank me. This is where I should be. Melena was a very dear friend and I will miss her very much.” Miss Warner hadn’t aged very well. She’d also put on a lot of weight. Everyone had their way of dealing with loss. I wondered if Miss Warner used food as a means to deal with hers. She used to be so fit and had actually pulled Mom and Dad into exercise regimens.

We walked in and took a seat. “I made some tea and coffee a few moments ago if you’d like a cup.”

“Tea would be great. Thank you,” I replied.

I looked around the room. Not much had changed since my last visit here several years ago. The short walk from the foyer to the living room still greeted me with a string of pictures on the walls. The living room was just as I’d remembered. It was a small cozy room with two chairs on either side of the fireplace that caught your eye as soon as you entered the room. The memory of Mom and Dad seated on either side of the mantle flashed in front of me. In the winters, Dad would light a fire and he and mom would often sit in the chairs beside the fireplace reading the paper. And there was one Christmas that I’d taken a picture of them seated there dressed as Santa and Mrs. Clause.

I shook it off and looked at the mantle which displayed even more family pictures. I stepped closer to see a picture of me from a charity event that I’d attended two years ago. How horrible was I that my family had to get pictures of me from offline? There was another picture of my sisters and one of Mom and Dad on their wedding day. There were two others of us girls; I was in high school. I cringed as I looked at my hair; a curly style I would never dare attempt again. I continued looking around; there was a sofa facing the fireplace and a coffee table with an oval rug underneath. The furniture was different but the setup was the same as it had been when I’d lived here so many years ago.

I looked toward the window; it was the one that had showcased our Christmas tree year after year. We’d spend hours decorating and laughing. Christmas music was playing as we attempted to sing along. We were each allowed to open one gift on Christmas Eve. Then on Christmas day, we’d all gather around the tree taking turns opening each of our gifts.

I walked back toward the foyer, its walls held several pictures and certificates; some dating as far back as my days in grade school. There was one from my first day of high school. I looked miserable. Dad was gone by then. I didn’t think that Mom had taken that picture. Maybe Miss Warner had come over that morning to help celebrate my first day. I couldn’t clearly recall; I was in such a state during that period that I had most assuredly blocked out many memories.

My heart squeezed as I swept my eyes over the room again. There was nothing fancy about the room, it probably resembled the living rooms of millions of houses but this was more than just a cozy room, it had fragments of my past, it had memories that were specifically meant for me … memories of the time when I had a complete family. The many nights we played board games and snacked on popcorn as I watched Mom and Dad cheat to win. They both had been very competitive, which is more than likely a trait that I picked up from them. There were also memories of the time when my family was broken … when we all finally realized that Dad wasn’t coming back. I remember the day Mom told us that he was gone. It broke my heart and that was a mild break in comparison to the desolation that his absence had caused within her.

I looked up and noticed that Lia and Bianca were watching me. They looked much like I felt, broken … into yet another piece. “It’s been a long time since you’ve been here. Not much has changed though,” Lia said.

“Here you go Aria,” Miss Warner said, walking in with a tray of tea and cookies.

“My assistant, Raina, has scheduled an appointment for us to meet with the funeral director later this evening,” I said, taking a sip of tea.

“I’d rather not go, if that’s okay Aria,” Lia said.

“That’s fine Lia. Is there anything special you’d like to have done?” I asked.

“I don’t know anything about funerals. I trust you to do what’s best,” she said, and rushed upstairs.

I placed the tea on the table. “I need to check on her,” I said.

“Aria, I’ll do it,” Bianca said.

“Alright, but if you need me, I’m here.” I said.

As we neared the time to leave, the girls decided they would both stay home. Mrs. Warner offered to come with and I was relieved because I had no idea how I was going to get through this. She chatted the entire car ride to the funeral home. I didn’t have very much to add to the conversation but she was filling me in on how Mom had slowly come back to herself and had even convinced her to start working out like she did so many years ago.

We made the funeral arrangements, deciding to have the funeral the day after tomorrow. I didn’t see the point in dragging this out. Mom didn’t have many close friends but there were a few church members who would attend the service and there was no need to wait on family to fly in. Mom hadn’t spoken to her side of the family in decades. They disowned her when she married Dad. She’d said they weren’t prejudiced which I believed because my grandparents were an interracial couple themselves. Mom never explained much more than that. To this day, I never understood why they would turn their backs on Mom.