“Well.” I stood and cleared my throat. “Thank you, Belinda, for that wonderful introduction.” I smiled at the mayor’s wife, who nodded serenely. “First I want to thank each and every one of you for welcoming me the way you have. I’ve only been here for about a month, and every day it feels more and more like home.” My heart pounded as I tried not to let the weighty truth of that statement derail me into making a terrible first impression on the committee by delivering a rambling, incoherent speech. “I have spent almost every moment of the past week studying past festivals and learning so much about this town, the surrounding area, and my past.” I paused for effect. The sentiment landed. “Yes, as Belinda said, I have a lot of ideas for this year’s festival, but my main goal is to learn from all of you and do my best to preserve the traditions that made the past festivals so special. I am beyond grateful that you are giving me the opportunity to do that.” I finished with my well-practiced Little Miss Georgia Peach smile that helped me win a string of pageants in my childhood. It worked. My first big hurdle as a committee member had been cleared and I could relax… a bit.
The rest of the meeting was spent voting on the larger aspects of the festival that would involve the most planning and permitting. This was the big-picture, fun aspect of planning. I knew fromexperience that the more detailed parts of the festival were the ones that would cause the most delays and disagreements, so I enjoyed the calm while it lasted.
I had just finished a long, exhausting round of small talk and polite goodbyes when I was approached by an elderly woman wearing a large hat. She startled me by cupping my cheek in her palm.
“You grew up to be so beautiful, didn’t you?” she asked.
“Thank you, ma’am.” Decades of home training enabled me to suppress the urge to back away from her hold, which was surprisingly gentle. She was standing only inches away from my face, and, luckily for me, her breath smelled like peppermint candies, but she was doused in what I could only describe as old lady perfume—a mix of baby powder, soap, and White Diamonds by Elizabeth Taylor.
“It’s such a shame about your sister—” She shook her head and my heart pounded. I was about to open my mouth to speak before she continued: “—and the way it tore your family apart.” Her eyes bore into mine as if she were trying to read something from my expression. I worked overtime to keep my face placid, not wanting to give away my ignorance, but also not wanting her to stop talking. “But at least some good came out of all that pain and ugliness. George and Harriet weren’t able to help Annie, but they’ve been able to change the lives of so many others. Too bad your mama couldn’t see it, but maybe you’ll be different.” She patted my cheek. A nod and small smile were the only response I could muster before she turned and slowly shuffled away.
“Are you okay, sweetie?” I jumped when Belinda placed a hand on my shoulder, catching me very deep in thought.
“Yes.” I regained my composure and pasted on a smile as I finished shoving papers and folders into my tote bag. “I’m fine. Thank you.”
“You did wonderfully today.” She clasped her hands together and beamed. “Everyone is really excited about what you’re going to bring to this year’s festival.”
“I’m excited, too,” I replied, hoping to sound more excited than I felt. My brain was whirring. The very last thing on my mind was the festival.
“Belinda,” I began, and she raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at me. “Who was the woman I was just speaking with?”
“That’s Loretta Gibbons. She’s from the next town over, but she was really good friends with your grandmother. She grew up in this town, and she’s over here so much, I tell her she might as well move back.” Belinda laughed at her own joke, and I forced a chuckle in response.
“Hmm…” I nodded.
“A few of us ladies are going to the tearoom for lunch. We would love for you to join us.”
“I’m sorry, I would love to.” Another lie. “But I have a few things to take care of back at the farm and I promised I’d meet Dan at Erica’s.”
“Oh!” Her face perked up. “Well, definitely don’t keep that man waiting.” She lowered her voice conspiratorially and leaned forward. “Can I tell you how happy I am that you two found each other? We were starting to worry about that one.”
“Worry?” I tilted my head in confusion.
“Yes. For the last two years, a bunch of us have been trying to sethim up with every eligible woman—and man—in the county, but he was never interested. He spent so much time alone on that farm with no one for company his own age. People started to talk…” She pursed her lips and gave me a pointed look. That was a thread I had no intention of pulling. “But then you came along, and it’s like he’s a different person.” She sighed and pressed a palm to her heart. “It just makes my hopeless-romantic heart happy, is all.” She shook her head at me, wearing a dopey smile, before she turned and walked away, leaving me alone in the church’s conference room with nothing but my thoughts. It was the same room that had held the will reading; my heart pounded and my stomach lurched thinking about the last time I was in this room. It was the day my entire life had changed. Now, it was the same room I was standing in when the realization of the truth of my family’s rift hit me like a ton of bricks. For the last month or so, the puzzle pieces had been swirling around me, and with one sentence from Loretta Gibbons, the pieces were getting closer to falling into place.
My grandparents had been trying to save Annie. That was obvious from my grandfather’s journal. That’s why they started this farm. But something else happened. Something big.
It had to be the reason that my parents and grandparents hadn’t spoken in almost twenty-five years. It was clear that their work didn’t save Annie, but that didn’t stop them from helping other people.
There was still something missing. What was the exact reason for our family falling apart? I wish I’d had the courage to ask Loretta while she was standing in front of me, but I was still too much my mother’s daughter to even consider the idea of airing out my family’s dirty laundry with a stranger. My thoughts turned to mymother. Besides my father, she was the only living person who had the answer to every question that had been rolling through my head like headlines scrolling across the bottom of the television screen during a newscast. She was George and Harriet’s daughter. She was Annie’s mother. Hell, she was my mother.
Didn’t she at least owe me an explanation for taking away two people who I’ve only recently learned loved me?
Didn’t I have a right to know everything I could learn about the sister I still loved but could barely remember?
I needed to fill this gaping hole in my heart with the truth, and I was determined to get it from the only person who could give it to me.
I sat at the kitchen table, staring at the screen of my phone as if, at any moment, it could come alive and attack me. It had gone into sleep mode three times while I stared at it, unable to move or act.
C’mon, Emma. You can do this.
I’d negotiated multimillion-dollar deals. I’d coaxed hysterical starlets into cooperation. I’d begged, bullied, and bribed my way into award shows, A-list events, and boardrooms. But calling my mother while sitting in the house where she grew up, sitting at the kitchen table where my now-deceased grandparents served Annie and me pancakes while singing Marvin Gaye, was the most terrifying thing that I’d ever done.
Speaking to my mother was never a completely pleasant experience. Don’t get me wrong, I loved her. I’d idolized her and workedto live up to her exacting standards my entire life—until a month ago—but I’d also been living in fear and tiptoeing around the incredibly delicate subject that I was about to broach today.
Broachwas somewhat of an understatement. I planned on using a battering ram to blast open the door to the room in my mother’s mind that held her deepest, darkest secrets. This conversation could infuriate my mother—or worse, hurt her deeply. Was I ready to inflict this kind of pain on her? Was I ready to inflict it on myself?
I took a deep breath and steeled myself. If living on this farm and with Dan had taught me anything, it was that there were times when I needed to put myself first. The mystery of Annie and my grandparents had been eating me alive for almost my entire life. My mother held the answers, and I needed to get them from her. I also needed to do it now, while Loretta Gibbons’s words were fresh in my head. Plus, I had to meet Dan at Greenie’s in ninety minutes, and I had a feeling that I would need him after this conversation.
