I hope you enjoyed it.
The Volvo pulled into a spot and the engine cut off. The door opened and a small slender woman got out. She wore her hair natural and it was pulled back into a large puff. It gave her a younger than she is appearance. She wore scrubs.This must be her, Serene thought.
“Hey boys,” Said the woman. “Your mom is late as usual, huh?”
“Hows it going Dr. Griffin.” Of course, Toby was the first to speak.
Lance mumbled his hellos.
“Of course she’s late, she wouldn’t be herself if she was.” Toby continued.
Dr. Griffin then turned her attention to me. “And you must be Serene.” I nodded yes. She held out her hand for me to shake.
As I reached for it, she pulled me off of the bench into a hug. I froze, not expecting this. I’ve never been giving such a warm welcome. It was…nice.
I could hear the twins laughing next to us. I guess I was making my surprise obvious.
“I’m so glad you’re finally here. Let me look at you.” She stepped back and motioned with her finger for me to spin around.
I hesitated and decided to do what she said. I turned around giving her a full 360 of what she was getting herself into.
“You look just as beautiful as your mother.” As she said that a hint of sadness flashed across her face, but it disappeared just as quickly.
“Yeah, I get that a lot, from the people who remember her.” I finally spoke.
She started laughing. I looked at her confused.
“And you sound just like her!” She looked up and paused for awhile, she looked lost in her memories.
“Uh, Dr. Griffin,” I said, “are you okay?”
“Huh, oh sorry. Wait. Don’t you dare call me Dr. you can call me Patricia or Pat whichever you prefer.”
“Alright, I will, Pat.” I smiled. I did like her.
“Let’s get you home and settled in. You look exhausted.” She took up my single suitcase. “Is this all you have?”
“Yes, just that and this book bag.” I said while holding up the worn out JanSport for her to see.
“Well you’re not one to fill the stereotype.” She laughed to herself. “Later boys. Say hi to Jen for me.”
“We will.” They said in unison.
I nodded my goodbyes to them.
“See you in school Serene.” Toby said as he waved.
Patricia put my suitcase in the trunk as I got in on the passenger side. The car was nice and cozy, and the seats extremely comfortable, a pleasant change from the bus.
Patricia got in and started the engine.
“Welcome to ______. I’m sure you’ll love it here.”
That was the last thing she said as we pulled out of the parking lot headed to my new home.
The was gorgeous. It was a small but noble home off the road into the woods. I could see it through the trees as we pulled up. It had white-washed brick with a small front porch with a swing chair. When we finally made it out of the trees I realized that my perception was extremely wrong.
The house was small, but the land on it was huge. It appeared to be about a full two cleared acres. Most of the land was fenced in. In the distance I could see the reason for it. A few horses were eating grass in the distance. I could see a small animal get up for the grass and start running toward us. As it approached I could see it was a dog.
“I hope you like dogs.” Patricia said with a smile. “He won’t bite, He loves people.”
Patricia parked the car and we got out. The dog ran jumped through the wooden spaces in the gates and charged at us.
Patricia held out her arms in anticipation for his welcome, but the dog ran right passed her at me.
I wasn’t afraid of dogs and I actually liked them, but I didn’t expect this welcome I was receiving. The dog got on his hind legs and wagged his tale while barking in my face. He seemed friendly enough. His face even looked like it was smiling.
“Well, that really hurt my feelings Duke. We have a newcomer and you all but forget about me.”
Duke turned his attention to Patricia at the sound of his name and they had their moment together. I used this time to recover and wipe the dirt off my clothes. These welcomes were really going to take getting used to.
“Your home is beautiful.” I commented as we headed into the house. “And I can’t believe you own horses.”
“Thanks Serene, I’m glad you like it. And almost everyone around here does. It’s a huge pastime up here. You can even ride one of my baby’s to your school if you want.”
My eyes widen in surprise.
Patricia laughed in my face. “A lot of the kids do, its cheaper and it gives the horses some good exercise. Do you know how to ride?”
I shook my head. It was an amusing thought to think of students riding horses onto school grounds. I did see a number of riders on the drive here, but I didn’t expect that.
“Well you best ought to learn if you want to fit in.”
The inside of the house was just as amazing as the out. All along the shelves and on tables were books. My heart jumped at the thought of being able to crack open all of these foreign titles.
Patricia noticed my new mood. “I take it you like to read.”
I nodded hurriedly.
“Well feel free to read any book you wish. I been so busy at the hospital that I’m afraid I’ve been neglecting them.”
Patricia led me upstairs before I could start looking through the titles. The house appeared to be three bedrooms, one to the left of the stairs and two to the right. The bathroom was on the left side. She led me to the room far to the back on the right side.
“You go first, I hope you like it.”
I opened the door and found myself in a lovely room with a little hallway leading into it. The closet was in the hallway. A gorgeous oak dresser was right at the end of the hallway. Once I entered the main part of the room I was greeted by the sun. My window was set so that it was engorged by sunlight.
“I hope you like your view, I picked this room because of it. If you don’t like it you can always move into the other one.”
“No, no, I love it.” I said in awe.
I huge oak bed took up most of the room and it was made up with a plush flowerly quilt. In the corner of the room were a desk and a bookshelf waiting to be stocked with books. On top of the desk was a small gift box.
“You shouldn’t have.” I said turning to face Pat.
“She smiled at me, its nothing big, I think you’ll like it. Go, open it.”
I walked across the room and picked up the box. It felt light. I took off the wrapper and held up a burgundy jewelry box. I opened the box and inside was a small pendent it was in the shaped of a star fish with a cluster of jewels in the center.
“Its beautiful.”
“It was your mother’s.”
I looked up amazed. “Really…”
“Yeah, your mother and I were best of friends. So naturally I would have borrowed a lot of stuff from her.” She laughed at this part. “I had borrowed this necklace from her a few weeks before she ran away with your dad. It was her favorite, but she never bothered to get it from me and just told me to keep it. I think its best for you to have it.”
“Thank you.” I smiled at Patrica with a renewed appreciation. She had given me something I had never had. Something that my mother owned and wore and loved. My dad had to sell anything that was worth anything when my mom died in order to pay bills and take care of me.
“Well, I’m going to get out of your hair. I have to get dinner started anyways.” Patricia walked out of the room with Duke on her heel.
I sat down on the bed still holding the necklace. After a few minutes I felt a few tears land on the pendant and I broke out of my trance. I put on the necklace and walked over to the mirror. It was beautiful. I looked at myself closely. Patricia said that I looked just like her mother. I changed the way I looked at myself and attempted to see her, the woman that I never really knew. I sighed at my failure and began to unpack.
I had only been in town for an hour and already I was falling in love with this place.
I’m sure there was much more for me to discover.
Edited to say: Whenever I put '_____' this signifies that I don't have a suitable name for it just yet.
