Serenis

Chapter 7

The drive home felt like an eternity as I gazed numbly out the window going over and over again not only the image of Ethel as she held onto my arm but the emotions I felt as she drifted away. Emotions I had never felt, feelings I had never experienced had shot through me as she'd gripped tighter and tighter.  

As we pulled into the driveway a wave of calm swept over me and I felt instantly at ease. No matter what happens in the world, nothing can beat the feeling of coming home and feeling instantly safe and secure. This was my own little nirvana. Our house was really a cottage and looked as if it belonged in a children's picture book. Dad said that when he and Mom first bought it, the house was no more than a wooden shell. Dad was dubious and wanted to buy a brick place but Mom insisted she had fallen in love with her little wooden cottage and of course Dad obliged and gave her the house of her dreams.  

They spent two whole summers fixing it up, doing most of the building and plastering themselves. Whilst Dad studied and worked at the local diner most nights, Mom would potter around painting anything she could in buttercup yellow, white and pale blue. The two storey house was painted white outside, except for the balcony rails and wooden lace trim which were painted a beautiful blue. This part of the house was repainted every summer on Dad's insistence. Just like the memory of my mother which lined the halls in photos, he didn't want the paint she had picked to fade away either.  

The car came to a stop and Ben was at my door, opening it like the perfect gentleman he was. Dad took my suitcase out of the trunk and walked to the front door to open it. I was still a little shaky from the Ethel situation and was a lot weaker than I thought as I gripped Ben's arm to help me get out of the car. I walked along the garden path and toward the steps, looking at our perfect little garden that Grandma had helped me plant when I was ten. She taught me all the different names for the flowers as we planted each one so lovingly. Dad had come home from work one night to find an array of color, each flower carefully planted in its own row, circled around the different colored row inside it. The only part of the garden that was not kept so meticulously was the French lavender that Nancy gave me for my birthday three years ago. I had planted it by the front steps and it had completely taken off and in the summer when the warm breeze blew, the house was filled with the nurturing sweet aroma of lavender. 

I walked up the steps and into the front hall where Willis was waiting to jump all over me but after my brush with Ethel I dared not touch him for fear I would hurt him.  

Dad was quick to pull him away. 'Come on, Willis, let Evie in the door.'  

Willis sat down obediently but watched me with concerned eyes. It always amazed me how animals can sense when something is wrong. I remember when I was sick with the flu last winter Willis sat on the end of my bed the whole time whilst I slept and didn't move from my side except for the occasional bathroom break. This he only took when I showered. I wondered at that moment if Willis knew what I was. I had heard that dogs and cats had a sixth sense and hoped somehow that he knew, yet still loved me all the same. 

Ben grabbed the case from Dad who was exhausted. 'I'll take this upstairs BJ.' 

Dad was too tired to argue and handed it over. 'Thanks Ben. There are some blankets in the hall closet upstairs. Would you mind bringing one down with Evie's pillow and I'll set her up on the sofa.' 

'No problem.' Ben raced up the stairs with my case and I looked at Dad, like him too tired to argue. 

'I don't really need to be on the sofa.' 

Dad hugged me and kissed my forehead. 'No, I want you where I can keep an eye on you. Do you think you should take one of the sleeping pills the doctor gave you?'