An Ancestry of Secrets

Chapter 1

"Your aunt Edie will sure be missed." Agnes crooned as she handed Josephine another Pyrex casserole dish filled with a small-town concoction of comfort food.

"Thank you, Agnus." Josephine's lips thinned into a slight smile as she took the dish from the purple-haired church organist. She wasn't quite sure how Agnes would miss aunt Edie. The two rarely crossed paths aside from Easter Sunday when Edie would attend church with Josephine and her mother, or the Founder's Day Barbecue.

"Another tater tot special, huh?" Scott took the dish from Josephine and set manipulated a spot on the dining room table already full of other offerings from the church's quilting circle.

"How on earth do these women think that I can consume all this? You're going to have to take some home Scott."

"Dibs on Mrs. Jameson's firecracker surprise!"

"All yours." She pulled a chair away from the table and slumped herself into it, finding just enough space to prop her elbow up and hold her head. A throb had formed behind her eye socket. The chatter and well-wishes from the mourners put her into sensory overdrive. Scott came around and started to rub the base of her neck. Josephine felt an immediate release of pressure, the throb downgraded to a mild ache.

"God bless those hands."

Scott chuckled and grabbed another chair. "A few times over." He patted her knee. "Who knew all that kneading bread would spring forth the talent of massage."

"Don't let the Lawrence sisters overhear you say that. They'll be on you like flies on a potato salad." She pointed towards two woman circling poor Pastor Bailey fresh out of seminary and single.

"I fail to see the problem." Scott leaned back, his arms folded behind his head.

Josephine slapped the top of his thigh. "Shame on you Mr. Christian Mingle. What would your poor mother say?"

"She'd probably be thrilled. That woman wants grand-babies so bad I get worried anytime I go with her to Walmart and I hear a 'Code Adam', running towards the doors like some NFL lineman."

"You're horrible. She ain't that bad...yet." Josephine scanned the room and spotted Mrs. Worthens, Scott's mother, playing peek-a-boo with Terri Mitchell's 15-month old.

After the light laughter subsided, Scott and Josephine sat in silence and watched their town swarm around Aunt Edie's dining and living room. Odenville was a quiet conservative mid-western town where family trees were well established orchards. Summers were spent swimming at the pond and winters skating on it. Children knew that even though their mothers were not standing next to them while out playing, there was someone's mother always watching ready to sound the alarm at the first hint of waywardness.

Josephine was a transplant to Odenville. She came to live with Aunt Edie after her mother passed away. Starting high school was hard enough for any fourteen-year-old but having to do so in a new location made it near impossible to catch a break in a small town. Josephine lucked out when she bumped into Scott as she walked head down to class. Her clumsy mishap resulted in a best friend fifteen years and counting.

She reached over and gave his hand a squeeze. He squeezed back. The two of them have survived heart breaks, distance during the college years, and death of loved ones. Most of Odenville had expected the two to settle down together and plant their family tree. The idea had crossed their minds, but Josephine and Scott ultimately decided they made better friends than lovers, at least right now.

"You sure you want to live here all by yourself?" Scott adjusted his weight in the chair.

"Why not? The house is paid for and it's been my home for half of my life." Josephine gave Scott's hand another squeeze then let it go.