The Forget Me Nots

Chapter Four

Amelia had forgotten how much she loved the market.

Well, truth be told, Amelia had tried to forget how much she loved the market.

It'd never been the same again without Cassie, a fact that she thought she could ignore. At first - after a couple of months - she'd made a trip to one of the local ones where they were staying to try to feel like her mother was still with her, suddenly stuck by the idea that she'd never see her face again and desperate to hold on to something real. But it had only made things worse. Nothing was familiar, all the stands were filled with strangers, none of them had ever heard of her mom, and she wound up back home within the hour, tears hot on her face as she threw herself at her father.

Henry hadn't carried her since she was ten years old, back when she'd managed to fall off the back of his truck on her birthday; she'd been crying back then too, but the difference between the two times was that her mother was still alive when she was ten. Cassie had worn her hair down that day, in celebration of Amelia's birthday, and at Amelia's request; she was forever getting her own hair tangled in dirt, or leaves, or well, anything really, and as a result she usually had a shorter haircut than she would have liked, even at an early age. She'd looked up at her mother who was brushing her hair in the mirror, a huge smile on her face and she could still remember asking, "Momma, could you wear it down? You look prettier with it down, and I want you to be pretty on my birthday."

Cassie's long brown locks had fallen over Amelia's face as she picked her up from the ground, her eyes worried and pinched as she tried to soothe her with gentle words of comfort until Henry arrived, running and asking what happened. Amelia had looked up at him and thought she'd never seen any man more handsome than her father, with his broad shoulders and fair hair. Her own knight in shining armor, wrapping his big arms around her.

It was the same way he held her when she'd rushed back home.

"Honey? Where have you been? Are you alright?"

Her dad, ever her knight in shining armor, no matter at what age. Ten, twenty, sixteen, Amelia knew her dad would always be there to pick her up.

But hadn't that been what she'd thought of Cassie? That her mother would forever stay by her side, no matter what? And what had happened? One doctor's visit, just a routine checkup, and a lump was found in her chest, one that had killed her.

"Why did she-she h-have to get sick? Why did He h-have to take her away? Doesn't He know I need my mom-m?" she'd blubbered as she buried her face against his chest.

"How dare He? How dare He take my m-momma away from me!"

"Honey," he said, rubbing soothing circles down her back. "We can't control these things."

"Why not?" she'd demanded, anger flooding her veins as she pulled back to look up at him. "Isn't He supposed to love us? All of us? Then why does He let these things happen!"

Henry looked down at her, his own eyes red. She'd cried when she found her mom, her beautiful eyes closed and her hands still clasped over her heart, but she hadn't cried at the funeral. She'd thought that it would hurt less, if she didn't let herself cry, as if by not crying she could keep the horrible, horrible truth at bay.

It didn't work.

Henry did. As much as he'd tried to hold himself together for her at the beginning, when he saw his wife being lowered into the ground, he'd broken down. He'd whispered her name over and over again, falling to his knees when everyone else had left and burying his fingers in the ground, as if trying to reach her one last time. Amelia had dropped down beside him and wrapped her arms around him, holding her father as tightly as he had held her for everything. He'd leaned against her, his face against her shoulder as she carried weight of both of them.