Liam hefts another box up into his strong arms. “You know, I pictured our honeymoon a bit more . . . romantic.”
“I’m sure you did, but Arkansas has its charms.”
“It does?”
“Well, it has my parents and they’re watching Aara each morning so we can sleep in.”
He raises one brow. “And they say married life changes couples.”
I stick my tongue out to which he replies with blowing me a kiss before walking downstairs.
I sort the box of books into different piles. Some will be donated, others tossed, and Mom says she wants to keep anything with a love story.
A lot of these books are covered in dust, clearly not touched or read in a long time, but, I know how my mother is about books so I take my time.
As I start to dig deeper into box number five, I come across a black leather-bound book with nothing on the spine.
It’s old. Extremely old and there’s no title page. I flip another, being extra cautious because the pages feel like they could turn to dust if I rub them too hard.
I turn another and notice it’s not a book, but it’s a diary.
The name written on the page is Naomi Gilcrest.
Now I’m intrigued.
It’s definitely not my mother’s writing so I start to read.
Just as I lean back my mother pops her head in. “Natalie?”
“Mom, look what I found.”
She walks over, looking at it. “Ah, I see you found your great, great, great, great, great grandmother Naomi’s journal.”
“That’s a mouthful.”
Mom chuckles. “I know, and I may be off and need to add a few more onto that, but you get the point. It’s old and Naomi’s diary is . . . well, great.”
“You’ve read it?”
She nods. “Your father’s grandma gave it to me when we had just started dating. She said her,” she pauses and then shakes her head. “However many grandmothers back it was for her had an amazing story. She told me about how detailed and intriguing her story was.”
“Really?”
My mother’s smile is bright. “Oh, filled with mystery and drama, like all the good ones are.”
“Why haven’t you ever told me about this?”
“I forgot it was up here, honestly. You know, if I remember, her life was quite a bit like yours in some ways.”
I scrunch my nose. “Drama with other women and a bad ex?”
Mom laughs. “Well, yes, but I mean her love story. Naomi was a woman that struggled through life. She didn’t have it easy, especially when it came to men.”
“We must not be the same then since I have Liam.”
“Yes, love, you do, but you didn’t always, and neither did she. Her first husband, Arthur, wasn’t great and left her a widow.”
I smile, touching the cover of the book lovingly. “So she was strong at a time that women were considered weak.”
