Chapter One
Ilightly tapped onthe steering as I hummed a tune from one of the projects I was working on.It was a light Christmas jingle that had quickly gotten stuck in my head these past few days.All my job requests had been Christmas related.
Just the other day, Toby tried to play Christmas music through the radio and I had to turn it off instantly.I was so over it.Christmas was still weeks away, and I never wanted to listen to another holiday song ever again.Never ever again.
There was a soft thud, and I glanced through the giant fence and at the large warehouse in front of me.Self-storage units lined the side with big, dark, metal red doors.There were three buildings in total, all of them hiding the private lives of who knows who.A car on the other side of the fence drove to it and scanned their card.The gate opened, letting them through.It drove by me and onto the road.
Sighing, I leaned back in my seat, trying to shake off the paranoia that seemed to have made a home inside of me these last few months.I was tapping at the steering wheel again, trying to keep my emotions in check.It was harder than usual.
About two minutes later, another car pulled up next to me.Aunt Laura climbed out.Her long, wavy black hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she wore a teal blue winter headband.Her black parka wasn’t zipped up, revealing a black sweater underneath.
“Finally.”I sighed in relief and scrambled out of my car as she waited patiently next to hers.
“I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long?”she asked.
“No.”
“Good.Shall we go see what we can use then?You can get in with me.”
I met her gaze with gratitude.“Thank you for doing this.”
Aunt Laura’s expression softened, warmth shining in her brown eyes.“No one else thought about doing this, and I think it’ll do Justin good.You brought up a good point.His dad was his last family with memories of his mother and sister.So we should do what we can to honor his family.”
As she climbed back into her car, I joined her, getting into the passenger seat.She drove through the gate and around the first storage building.Arriving at the third one, she parked as close as she could get to the building and left the car running with the heat blasting.
After sorting through her keys, she found the one she wanted and took off the lock before lifting the sliding door up.Inside, neatly packed boxes and containers were stacked high against the back and side walls.It wasn’t overly packed and there was even a small table set up near the opening with nothing on it.
Aunt Laura made a soft humming sound as she stepped in.The light from outside made it easier to see, but it was still a bit dark.
“I kept what I could and what I thought Justin would want one day.I didn’t bother with any of the furniture, opting to sell it instead to help with Justin’s college funds.”
I looked closer at the boxes and realized they were neatly labeled with their contents.Clothes.Shoes.Toys.Pictures.
“Here, grab this one.”Aunt Laura heaved down a box from the middle of the unit.I had a moment of hovering, scared she was going to fall or hurt herself as she stood on top of a flimsy looking folding chair.
She laughed when she saw my expression.“I swear, I’m stronger than I look.”
“I believe you,” I said.
“Uh huh.Here.”She handed the box to me.As I put it on the table, she grabbed another, placing it down next to it.She dug through her purse and pulled out a box cutter, easily slicing through the tape and pulling open the flaps to look inside.“Just like I thought.”
“What?”I asked, trying to see inside.
Aunt Laura pulled out a beautifully woven soft blanket.It was mainly a forest green, but other greens were woven in too.It was really pretty.
Her expression was wistful as she said, “We’ll give this to him too.It was his mother’s favorite blanket.There were so many times when I’d go visit and see Justin wrapped tightly in it as she held him.He loved to snuggle with it while she read to him.”
I carefully grabbed the blanket.It was super soft and warm.It did smell a little dusty, but we’d be able to air it out before giving it to him tonight.Just learning this little bit of information about Justin and his mom made me feel light and warm and happy.
“This is perfect,” I whispered, trying to imagine those precious moments of his with his mother.“I’ll get this wrapped up for you to give to him later.”
Aunt Laura was smiling at me again in that soft way of hers.When she realized I was staring at her, she cleared her throat and pointed at the box she had given me.“That’s full of family photos.So protect that with everything you got.”
“I’ll protect it with my life.”
She laughed.“You don’t need to go that far.”
I lightly rested my hand on the box, knowing exactly how important the contents were.“This box holds precious life.It’s worth it.”
