We carried every single bag back out to her car together. All four of us. In a little parade down the front hallway. Harold carried the suitcase. Thomas carried the starter jars from the closet, holding them out in front of him like they were full of nitroglycerin. Eleanor directed traffic.
I carried the notebook. I tucked it into her purse myself, very carefully, like it was a treasure.
Because it was.
At the car, I stopped her.
“Eleanor. Sunday.”
“Sunday?”
“Come back Sunday. Tomorrow. Bring the R-07. Teach me how to do this. We’ll bake. In my kitchen. With the door open.”
She looked at me for a long time.
“Every Sunday?” she said.
“Every single Sunday.”
Her chin trembled. Then she pulled me into a hug so tight it surprised me. She smelled like rose hand cream and flour.
“Thank you, Claire,” she whispered.
“Thank you for not being my mother,” I almost said. But I didn’t. That was a story for another Sunday.
They drove away again. Second time in two days.
Later that afternoon, Thomas and I stood at the kitchen counter, tearing the rest of that banana bread apart with our fingers, not bothering with plates. The guest room was quiet behind us, its window still open.
“I can’t believe you thought my mom was a drug lord,” Thomas said, with his mouth full.
“I can’t believe you called your mother before you even walked down the hall.”
“Fair.”
“Very fair.”
He kissed the top of my head.
“For the record,” he said, “she’s going to be insufferable now. You know that, right? You just gave her permission. You’re never going to get rid of her.”
I looked at the windowsill above our sink.
Eleanor had left something there, while I was carrying bags out to the car. I hadn’t even noticed her do it.
A small mason jar. A strip of masking tape across the front, in that careful slanted handwriting.
R-07. For Claire. Feed me.
Inside, a thick, pale, gloppy paste. Already starting to bubble.
Ethan Blake is a skilled Creative Content Specialist with a talent for crafting engaging and thought-provoking narratives. With a strong background in storytelling and digital content creation, Ethan brings a unique perspective to his role at TheArchivists, where he curates and produces captivating content for a global audience.
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