Vivien K. Wilk

Grace woke when the sun was already in the sky. Confused, she straightened before her eyes fell on the bedside lamp. The light was still on. In fact, like a scared child, she had left the lamp on all night. With a sigh, she put her feet over the edge of the bed and flipped the switch. At least she had apparently slept through the night. At least she couldn't remember waking up in between. She picked up her cell phone. In fact, it wasn't as late as she'd feared. It was already ten o'clock, but with the brightness she had thought it was well after noon. One shower later and with fresh clothes on, Grace felt ready to tackle the day. She was feeling hungry now and it was a good opportunity to visit the bakery. It was still a strange feeling to walk through the house alone, but it was a little easier to bear during the day. As she passed she caught a glimpse of the winter garden on the other side of the living room. She resolved to take a look inside after her shopping. If she remembered correctly, Evellyn had always placed great importance on the winter garden being filled with plants.

When she stepped out of the bookstore, she was greeted by a breath of fresh air. The smell of salt hung around them. In the distance she thought she could hear the sound of waves. Had the bookstore been that close to the coast? Grace tried to remember if she'd made trips to the beach. On the other hand, even the memory of it could mean anything. There were pictures of the beach and ice cold water, but she wasn't sure how long they'd been there.

I have time. That will surely be easy to find out.

Grace turned her focus back to her immediate surroundings. Her gaze wandered up and down the street, searching. Mr. Steel had said there was a bakery nearby, but of course he hadn't said a word in which direction to go. She pulled out her cell phone and started searching Google for a bakery. To her relief, she found that the store was just around the corner. As she put her cell phone away, she was already turning to the right. And ran into another person. Heat shot to her head as her mind raced. Why wasn't she paying attention?

"I'm so sorry," she managed quickly.

She raised her gaze, sure that you could see how red her face was. In front of her was a tall, red-haired, older woman, perhaps the age Evellyn had been. She had a basket hanging on her arm and was just adjusting her peaked cap.

"Oh no."

Her reply was accompanied by a loud laugh. Her Irish accent couldn't be ignored.

"It can happen to anyone, my dear."

Grace noticed that the woman she'd spoken to began to look closely at her. Grace shrank under her gaze. She had apologized, it would be best if she just go now.

"Could it be that you are Evellyn's great niece?"

Grace blinked in confusion. Her plan to apologize again and leave came to an abrupt end, as if she had stepped into a noose around her ankle.

"Yes."

That was the only thing she could get out. Immediately the woman's gaze softened and her smile took on something warm. At the same time, however, something sad fell over the woman's face.

"Oh little one, my condolences. We're all still very shocked, but when I heard that you were coming, I really wanted to visit you. It's been so long since we've seen each other. And Evellyn was so happy when you and your sister visited her. "

The confusion did not decrease any further. Grace wanted to say something, but her mouth stayed open as she tried to grasp the situation.

"Of course you don't remember."

The woman shook her head with a sigh.

"I didn't think about it at all. I only met you three times or so. I'm Brigitte, Evellyn's husband's sister."

The name sounded familiar. Grace wasn't sure, but in fact Evellyn had occasional visits from her in-laws.

"I'm pleased. And also my condolences."

Grace held out her hand. Instead of just shaking it, Brigitte took her hand and held it for a moment between her hands. A surprising warmth emanated from her, which soon enveloped Grace's whole hand.

"Thank you my dear. It's nice that you're here. Do you want to go in? I could use a coffee."

"Of course, but I wanted to go to the bakery because I have nothing to eat."

"Don't worry about that. We'll take care of each other."

Brigitte patted the cloth on her carrying basket before she nodded at the bookshop door invitingly. Grace threw one more look in the direction of the corner of the house where the baker had to be, but then surrendered to the situation. She turned back to unlock it.

 

It was easy to see that Brigitte knew her way around the house far better than she did. Without hesitation, she went straight into the kitchen and made them both a coffee. The fact that she had started cleaning out the kitchen a bit had irritated Grace again. However, she sat in silence at the kitchen table and listened to what Brigitte said. Most of them were memories of the visits where they'd met. Some memories came back, but Grace was also missing many things, of which the older woman reported in a lively tone.

There was one thing that Grace could remember very clearly. She had never met Evellyn's husband. As children, they had never really thought about what must have happened. All she remembered was that he must have died early. From what Brigitte said now, he must have been a seaman.

"Evellyn has stood by my side so much. When my mother passed away last year, I think I would have been completely lost without her."

"Oh, I didn't know that. I'm sorry. I ..."

Grace searched for words. It was hard to miss that she was here as an heir and didn't know anything about her great-aunt. The queasy feeling in her stomach returned vehemently, to the point that she was beginning to feel sick.

"No need to apologize for it. I think it's less your fault than Evellyn and her sister fell out."

"You mean my grandma?"

"Yeah, exactly. Mechthild is her name? Anyway, I don't know who was mad at whom, but I know that it had something to do with Evellyn moving here to marry Cadan. So short I don't think it was very easy after the war. "

"That may well be. Grandma doesn't really talk about it. I don't even know how much my mother knows."

"I can't tell you either. I never met your grandmother. And your mother - let me think about it - three times, I think. During her semester abroad. She visited Evellyn very often."

Grace nodded in confirmation. That was the reason why her mother had sent her to Evellyn on vacation. The first time, her mother had come with them, but after that they were always here alone.

"Anyway, Evellyn told me you were studying economics?"

"I'm almost halfway through my studies."

"I admit that wouldn't be for me."

"May I ask what you are doing?"

"Of course, my dear. I was a teacher and now I'm retired. I've taught math and English."

Brigitte poured the coffee into a pot. Then she took sandwiches and a cheesecake from her basket. The last thing she took was a Tupperware jar and went to the fridge with it.

"For your dinner. I hope you like fish with vegetables."

"But that wouldn't have been necessary."

"Family is there for each other. Especially in times of mourning. The shop is not that far away, but you have to find your way first. I actually wanted to invite you to dinner tonight, but my husband said I'm not supposed to overwhelm you like that."

Grace could see Brigitte rolling her eyes and couldn't help laughing. During the whole conversation she hadn't noticed how the feeling in her stomach had slowly calmed down. Only now, when her shoulders sagged, did she notice how tense her body had been all along. She pulled her cramped fingers apart and moved them a little to relax them.

"How about tomorrow night?" She asked, her voice pacing excitedly.

"If that's right for you, of course. But let's go to the winter garden and have some food first."