Hearts Afar

...4...

Chapter 4

It took us two days to get to Hartford because mom didn’t want to make the whole trip in one day because it was a twelve hour drive. We stopped at a hotel just past the New Jersey state line and stayed the night. We woke up early the next morning and was hoping to be at our new house before three p.m. We would also be staying at a hotel for several days once we got to Hartford because the moving truck wasn’t due until Wednesday and we would be there Sunday.

It was five thirty in the morning when I woke up and Cassie and Lacey were still asleep. We were still at the hotel and I looked around to find mom. When I didn’t see her anywhere, I left a note for the girls telling them that I went in search for some decent tasting coffee and to find mom. I went downstairs and when I rounded the corner, I was greeted with the wonderful smell of coffee. I went to where the hotel had the continental breakfast set up and saw mom sitting in the far corner of the room. I walked up to her and sat across from her.

    “Hey mom,” I said. She looked up and immediately started wiping tears from her eyes.

    “Hey sweetie. Didn’t realize you were up.”

    “Just got up, came looking for coffee. Did you get any sleep?”

    “Yeah, not much but I’ll be okay.”

    “Mom, what’s wrong?” I asked.

   “Just besides uprooting us just to be closer to your father’s de... dead body?” she sobbed. I moved my chair closer to her and wrapped my arms around her.

I was use to this by now because mom was always breaking down. She wouldn’t do it in front of the twins because they would break down with her and they would be nothing but this big blubbering pile of tears and snot. I’m not saying that as a bad thing and it certainly wasn’t easy for me, but I was strong for mom. I was also strong for the girls if they needed a shoulder. I was honestly happy that I hadn’t had to deal with all three of them together because I wouldn’t be able to do it. After mom calmed down, she wiped her eyes again and looked up at me.

    “How are you so strong? Does this not bother you?” she asked.

   “I’m strong because I know how broken everyone is and someone has to be able to take care you you. As much as I love Cassie and Lacey, they would freak out if they saw you like this and wouldn’t know what to do,” I said and I actually got a laugh from mom.

    “You’re right about that. Claire, don’t you cry?”

    “Of course I do, but only when I’m alone.”

    “You are an amazing young lady. Your father would be so proud.”

    “He taught be to be strong,” I smiled.

    “Yes, he did. Thank you.”

   “No problem. Now, let’s take this coffee and go get the girls up so we can finish our journey,” I said, standing up.

    “Sounds like a plan,” she said, following me.

* * * *

I thought that with us moving, we would get a smaller house but it was a lot bigger than the house we had back in Greensboro. It was a Colonial style house and absolutely gorgeous. It had seven bedrooms and four bathrooms, a formal dining room, massive kitchen, a huge family room and even a more intimate living room with a fireplace.

As I walked through the house, I was amazed by the whole thing. Not only was the house big but the land it was on, was huge. We also had a wonderful in-ground pool that I couldn’t wait to try out. We had a three car garage which would have been great if dad was in fact still here and it would have easily fit mom and dad’s car and my rinky little fixer upper I had in Greensboro. Shortly after we were told dad was MIA, it died on me so mom had it hauled off.