“I won’t allow your ass to return to that fancy school.”
“Oh, really.” Sophia got up from the table, feeling like she had acquired the strength of three grown men. “You go ahead and try to stop me, and I will tell the twins and anyone who’ll listen.”
Ma Deary pushed back in her seat and began to stand but froze at the sound of Sophia’s voice.
“Don’t. Test. Me.” Sophia pointed her finger and then stormed out the back door.
Two days later, Sophia was back at school. Willa had traveled to Disneyland in California for spring break and wouldn’t return to campus until Monday. After living in cramped quarters on the farm, Sophia was grateful for the privacy.
Ma Deary hadn’t fought her on returning to school, nor had they said much to each other, but she had worked Sophia like a mule. Before Unc arrived to pick her up, Sophia had to pull weeds, plant tomatoes, peppers, and lettuce, then scrape the roosting bar clean inthe henhouse. The worst job had been mucking the horse stalls with a pitchfork, and she had gagged repeatedly over the putrid smells of urine and manure.
Now Sophia breathed in the sweet scent of the lavender sachets that Willa had placed around their room, and examined her hands in front of her. They looked dry, and her nail beds had dirt beneath them, even though she had picked them with an index card.
Then her eyes fell on the tin canister sitting atop her chest of drawers. She still had not opened it. On the farm, it had not felt right to bring her mother’s memory to life in the home that had caused Sophia such strife. But even now that she was alone, she wasn’t ready. What would she find? What if it was more than she could handle alone?
Sophia stood, placed the tin in her satchel, and decided to take a walk over the school grounds for a bit of fresh air. When she walked down the steps of her dorm, she saw Max and Louis playing catch with a baseball on the lawn. Her breathing slowed down at the sight of Max. He wore a Forest T-shirt and a pair of shorts that strained against the muscles of his thighs.
She strolled to a wooden bench and called out, “Hey, guys.”
“Sophia.” Louis palmed the ball in the air. “How was your break?”
“Uneventful.” She shrugged as she made eye contact with Max. His eyes twinkled in the sunlight as he made his way toward her with Louis in tow. The boys flanked her on the bench.
“What’d you do?” she asked.
“Nothing much,” responded Louis, stretching his legs in front of him.
“I was bored, quite frankly,” Max said. “I’m happy to be back.” He let his thigh rest against hers.
“I’m going to get a jump start on calculus,” Louis said, standing. “Give you two lovebirds time to catch up.”
“I was just going to the library,” Sophia said.
“Okay, Lou, I’ll catch up with you later.” Max turned toward Sophia and cupped her chin. “Why the face?” he asked.
“I found my birth mother.”
“For real?”
“She’s dead.”
Max put his hand over his mouth. “Soph, I’m so sorry.”
“Me too.” Sophia patted her satchel. “But she left me something. Will you come to the library with me so that I can open it? I didn’t want to do it on the farm. Now that I’m here, I don’t want to do it alone.”
“Of course.” Max stood, reached for her hand, and pulled her to her feet.
On the walk to the library, Sophia filled him in on her ride with Mrs. Gathers, meeting her aunt, and all that had transpired. “I wish I had asked Jutta for a picture of Jelka, alive and happy.”
“There’s time for that, since she told you to stay in touch.”
Max held the library door open for Sophia, and the vanilla woodsy scent of the countless shelves of books eased her. There were two or three huddles of students in the main lobby, but none seemed to notice them as Sophia and Max headed back to their special room. Once inside, Max locked the door behind them and then pressed his lips against hers and kissed her slowly, shooting little sparks up her spine.
“I’ve been waiting to do that since the moment I saw you,” Max said breathlessly.
His forehead was pressed against Sophia’s, and as she gazed into his eyes, it was hard for her to think of anything else. She had been reeling for the last few days, and it was nice to slow down with him. Then she remembered why they were in the room, and she reached for her satchel, placed it on the table, and removed the box.
Max ran his hand over the letters on the tin. “Prost!That means ‘cheers,’?” he said.
