As soon as she finished talking to her, Hilary's mother, Marilyn, walked out of the bookstore, closed it and headed to Sally's Refreshment House to get dinner. Arriving in front of the diner, she opened the door, jingling the bell. Sally, hearing the sound, looked out from the kitchen to see who had entered. As soon as she saw Marilyn, she came out of the kitchen and went to meet her with the bag containing the dinner.
"Marilyn, let's sit down for a moment, shall we?" She asked her friend.
"Sure Sally."
They sat down at a secluded table.
"Marilyn are you okay? You've been acting weird since your daughter came back." Said Sally worriedly.
"Sally I'm just a little pensive. You know Hilary inherited her grandmother's house in Wako, but she hasn't wanted to go there since she died, and I'm thinking of ways to get her to go down there. Even if it's just to see the house and decide what to do." Replied Marilyn.
"Don't worry Marilyn, your daughter is an adult. You'll see that she'll come around eventually." Sally reassured her.
Marilyn looked at the clock hanging on the wall, and seeing that it was late, she got up from the table. She said goodbye to Sally and went out, walking towards home. On the way it began to snow again, the air had become colder and more biting. Marilyn took out her scarf and gloves from her bag, put them on and also took out an umbrella to protect herself from the snow. She started walking again, still thinking why Hilary didn't want to go to Wako. She didn't realize she had arrived home, she raised her head and walked up the porch steps she closed the umbrella and put it inside the umbrella stand by the door, and walked into the house shaking the snow off her shoes.
"I'm home, is anyone there? Hilary are you there?" Said the mother not seeing her daughter.
"Yes, mom I'm in the kitchen." Replied Hilary.
Marilyn took off her coat, gloves and scarf, hanging them on the coat rack behind the front door, and headed into the kitchen.
"Good girl Hilary, you've set the table. All we have to do is heat up dinner and eat." Said her mother, placing the bag of food on the table.
"Mom, how come you're coming now? You know I worry when you're late." Said Hilary in a worried tone.
"You don't have to worry, you know I'm used to being late. Then I stopped by Sally's to pick up dinner and we chatted. What do you want to happen to me in a small town like Laurel where we all know each other." Said the mother.
"That has nothing to do with it, I just worry anyway." Replied Hilary.
Hilary got up from her chair, grabbed her dinner which consisted of two single-serving aluminum baking pans of baked pasta. Hilary really liked Sally's baked pasta, and went to put it in the oven and set the timer while her mother sat at the table. Hilary turned to her mother, and looking at her she saw that she was tired. She sat down at the table as well and waited until the lasagna was hot. When the timer sounded, Hilary took them out of the oven and brought them to the table, and they began to eat. As soon as they finished Hilary helped her mother clear the table, putting the dishes in the dishwasher, and then went to sit on the couch in the living room.
"Hilar,y can you explain to me why you don't want to go to Wako anymore? "asked the mother hoping her daughter wouldn't get mad.
"Mom, if it will make you stop insisting that I go there I will tell you. I don't go to Wako anymore because it hurts me. Everything there reminds me of Grandma, and I'm still not ready. I miss her. I especially miss her cheerfulness around the holidays, she loved Christmas, just like me. She once told me that it wasn't Christmas without snow, and she was right. Snow gives a special patina to Christmas." said Hilary holding back tears.
"Oohh, my baby. I didn't know it had that effect on you to go there. Come here." Said her mother to Hilary, opening her arms.
Hilary dove into those arms, which like her grandmother's had a special warmth. They tasted of home and were reassuring. In her mother's arms, Hilary finally let go of the tears she had been holding back.
She broke away from her mother's arm. "I'm going to bed, I'm so tired. If not, who will be able to keep up with you in the morning, and you'd better go too." Said Hilary getting up from the couch.
"Sure Hilary, let's go. Who knows this night might bring us some advice." Said her mother also getting up from the couch. They walked up the stairs and each headed to their own room.
Hilary, still seeing the suitcase on the bed, thought to herself: "I'll unpack it tomorrow, now I'm too tired to lift a finger.
She picked up the suitcase and set it on the floor and opened it, grabbed her comfortable padded pajamas and headed to the bathroom to change and brush her teeth. She didn't understand why her mother was so insistent that she go back to Wako. When she was settled she went back to her room, got under the covers and fell asleep.
That night she dreamed about her grandmother Camille. It was a strange dream, but in the end the woman told her to go back to Wako. But what was wrong with everyone that she had to go back to Wako she just couldn't explain.
The next morning she was awakened by the sun's rays streaming through the white curtains of the window. She was so tired that night, Hilary had forgotten to close the blinds. She opened one eye and then the other, and stretched, not wanting to get up at all. She thought back to the dream she'd had that night, where the only thing she remembered was her grandmother telling her to go back to Wako. Frustrated, she shook the warm comforter aside and stood up, shivering at the contact of her bare feet on the cold light wood floor. She got up and searched for her warm blue chenille robe, and went downstairs to the kitchen, where she found her mother with her back to her, making tons of pancakes, not hearing her coming. Hilary sat down at the table, and saw that there was every good thing on it to fill the pancakes. From jams to chocolate, there were even fresh strawberries and blueberries with cream, nothing was missing.
Hilary cleared her throat, "Good morning mom, I see you're very early." She greeted Hilary.
Her mother, who hadn't heard her coming, heard her voice and jerked, turning towards the table where her daughter was.
"Good morning to you Hilary, I didn't hear you come in. Did you sleep well?" Said her mother bringing freshly made pancakes to the table on a large tray, sitting down at the table as well.
"Yes, Mom. I slept well." Hilary replied, omitting that she had had a dream about her grandmother and what she had told her. She didn't want her mother to get off to a flying start with the fact that she had to go to Wako.
They ate breakfast in silence, then Hilary went to get dressed, as did her mother. She opened her suitcase to see what to wear, and opted for a pair of light blue cigarette jeans and a warm white turtleneck sweater, with her snow boots on her feet. Once ready, she went downstairs to the living room, where her mother was waiting for her. As she descended the stairs, Hilary saw that her mother had also opted for a pair of black jeans with a blue and white striped sweater over it, and she too had snow boots on her feet.
"You're finally ready, Hilary. Let's go it's already late." Said the mother handing her coat to her daughter and putting on her own.
They left the house, climbed into the car Hilary had rented as soon as she arrived in Laurel, Mississippi, and headed to the bookstore.
"Honey, when are you going to promote your novel in the bookstore?" Her mother asked.
At those words, Hilary jerked, and nearly drove her car into a ditch. She hadn't expected her mother to be so direct, that she would give her days before going on the attack with the book promotion as well.
" I don't know when I'm going to promote the book. Remember I also have to start writing the new one? When I have time I will." Hilary replied to her.
When they arrived at the bookstore, Hilary parked in front and they got out of the car. She took the bag with the PC in it, they went inside and took off their coats to put them on the coat rack by the door. The first thing Hilary did was smell the environment. She claimed that you could smell the books in the air and she liked that very much.
The bookstore was not that big. A single room with a counter in the middle with some books on display and the cash register, and scattered here and there some round tables for those who wanted to read in the bookstore, and at the end of the room a lot of shelves crammed with many books, all divided by author and category.
Her mother wanted everything to be neat and tidy and Hilary was very surprised. Nothing had changed since the last time she had set foot there, and it had been a very long time since her father was still alive. But not only the bookstore, absolutely nothing had changed in that little town since her adolescence. It was as if time had stopped in the fifties.
She sat down at a table, took out her laptop and started writing, unable to type half a word because she was always distracted by people coming into the bookstore to say hello or talk to her mother, but Hilary thought: "I shouldn't get upset, after all it's only the first day. It'll be better tomorrow."
Hilary didn't have time to think this, that her cell phone started ringing, she saw it was Angie her manager, she answered, "Hi Hilary. Sorry to bother you but we're on the outs here. The publisher is eager to know if you've started writing the first chapter of your second novel yet." Said Angie.
"Angie I still haven't been able to write a single word. I got in front of the PC, but I didn't get started in time that a lot of people came into the bookstore to say hello or just to talk to my mom, and I got distracted. Sorry, it'll be better tomorrow." Hilary replied.
Before long it was lunchtime, and mother and daughter closed the bookstore, heading to Sally's Refreshment House to eat. Upon arriving, Hilary met Tanya, an old friend of hers since high school. They hadn't seen each other since they finished school. As soon as Tanya saw her, she couldn't believe her eyes and went to greet her.
"Hello Hilary, it's been a long time. They told me you were back, but I didn't want to believe it." Said Tanya glad to see her again after years.
"Hi Tanya." Hilary replied.
The three of them sat down at a table, waited for the waitress to order, and started talking.
"Hilary, what have you been doing all this time? All I know is that you published a novel." Tanya asked.
"I haven't done much besides publish my novel and go around the world advertising it. Rather, tell me about yourself." Hilary replied.
"I have always lived here in Laurel. After my mother died last year, I took over my parents' grocery store. My dad hardly sets foot in there anymore; he says the place reminds him of his mom. He sits at home in bed all day, and I have to take care of him, too." Replied Tanya sadly.
"Tanya, I am so sorry about your mother, she was a very kind woman. I remember she always had a good word whenever I came over. I remember you were engaged to Tom the mayor's son, how did that go?." Said Hilary.
"With Tom after several on and off we broke up. He cheated on me with Melody, remember her? That bleach blonde who was very popular when we were in high school. Now I've been with Marcus, the mechanic, for a few years. He's very sweet to me. Not like Tom who had become very arrogant in the last period." Tanya replied.
The waitress arrived to take orders. Hilary got a cheeseburger with fries and lots and lots of ketchup, with a coke. Her mother ordered a chicken salad with a small bottle of water, and Tanya ordered the same as Hilary. The waitress marked everything down in her notebook.
"Your orders will be coming in a moment." Said the waitress addressing the three, and left.
"I'm sorry Tanya. And yes, unfortunately I do remember Melody. Arrogant, spoiled, haughty and snobby. But then again, Tom wasn't for you if he betrayed you at the first opportunity," Hilary replied.
Their orders arrived, and they ate in silence. Then Hilary and her mother returned to the bookstore, not before saying good-bye to Tanya.
"I almost forgot, Mrs. Word. My father thanks you for the chicken soup you sent us," said Tanya.
They returned to the bookstore and Hilary tried to write something, but that just wasn't the day.