I followed the librarian to the back of the library. As we took thesame route that I’d taken all those years ago, a sad smile pulled at my lips at the memory.
It’s too bad they—
“When you called to schedule this book club meeting, I knew your name sounded familiar,” she said, interrupting my thoughts. “And then, when you said you were leaving soon, I knew I needed to show you this before you left town.” She pushed open the back door. “You’re the first of the public to see it.”
My hands flew to my face, and I gasped. “The gazebo!”
Bigger and better, the structure was at least twice the size of the one before it.
“After they finish painting it, we’re going to announce the grand opening in time for this upcoming school year,” she said excitedly.
“This is beautiful.”
She nodded. “It’s much nicer than the one we originally were going to go with, but with the money we received, we were able to really make it special. We were told that this was your favorite spot in Chance.”
“It was.” I looked around in awe. “It’s beautiful.”
“Now, hopefully, this will be enough to get you back for the next book club meeting!”
We laughed.
Heading back inside, we stopped by the information desk so I could sign the paperwork to confirm that we’d left the space the way we found it. I thanked the librarians and other workers for their help in making the event a success, and then I left.
“And when Barbara said…” Aunt Addy was midstory when I climbed inside the van.
I listened to her excitement as she relayed the whole conversation to Monica. Hearing the happiness in her voice struck a chord in me, and my eyes watered. Blinking back tears, I wanted to commit the sound of her glee, the sound of her laugh, the sound of her joy to memory.
We made it back to her house, and we were sitting down for dinner an hour later. She still had that well-earned, self-satisfied smile on her face.
“I’m proud of you,” I told her. “That was a really good turnout.”
“Yes, it was,” she said, her smile growing. “And the library keeping it going is…” She nodded. “That’s a blessing.”
“It is. All my life I’ve seen you do things like that. You decide you want to do something, and you just do it. And every single time, it ends up being epic.”
“Your legacy is in your impact.” She tapped the table as she said it. “And I want to make sure I leave mine in everything and everywhere I can.”
I stretched across the table to put my hand on her hand. “You’ve done that and so much more.”
“Everything I’ve ever done with my life has left a mark, has leftmymark.” She paused, taking a deep breath. Her eyes were watery but bright, like happy tears were forming. “I lived my life. I left my mark. And I’m very happy with that.”
“I’m happy that you’re happy.”
She gave me a soft smile. “Jazmyn, I want the same for you. I want you to be happy. I want you to leave your mark. And I want you to live your life.”
“I am. I will,” I whispered, choking up. “I will.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Trying not to cry, I changed the subject. “When are you going to let me in on your party plans? It’s the last thing on your list.”
“You’ll get the invitation with everyone else when it’s time,” she answered coyly. “I want your parents to be here for it.”
“I thought you wanted to knock everything out by now.”
“Everything but the party. That’s coming.” She tilted her head to the side. “You’ve made sure that I got through my list. Now it’s time to get through yours.”
“I know. I am.” I lifted my wrist. “I’ve mapped out my tattoo.”
