Family Connections (Chapter 2)

The leaves crunched under her feet as she carried the heavy box up the front steps. A gentle breeze blew her crimson hair into her face, some sticking in her mouth and eyes. She sputtered, trying to force the strands off her tongue and lips. When they refused, she huffed out a breath in frustration and walked through the front door. She dropped the box just inside and moved her hand to pull the hair away from her oval, tan face. She silently chastised herself for not putting her long locks in a ponytail. Once her pale blue eyes were clear she took a second to bend down and look in the box. She saw that is was filled with pots and pans. No wonder it was so heavy. She picked the box back up and made her way toward the kitchen at the back of her new house

She allowed the dishes to clang to the floor when she reached the cabinets by the stove. She would put them away once she got herself a drink. She walked over to the fridge and reached in, expecting to find a bottle of water. She found it empty and realized she would have to get a glass. She move to the cabinet over by the sink and grab a tall glass. She turned to the sink and soon had a large glass of cold water in her hand. As she took a long drink, she turned and leaned against the cabinet. She thought about being back in this town. She had never thought she would be here, but the job offer was to good to pass up. She would be a detective with the local Sheriffs department, which was a step up in her mind. With this being a small town, she didn't think she would have to investigate as many grisly crimes as she had been given at her old job. Plus, the pay was better and she had found this house easily. She thought to herself that her ex husband would be jealous, if he were still alive. She felt a small twinge of guilt with the last thought, but slowly quelled it.

With her drink finished, she put her glass in the sink and got back to work. She walked back out her truck and looked in the bed. There were only a few more boxes back there. That meant she was almost done with the heavy lifting. She looked at the houses in the neighborhood and decided that this really had been a good place to move. All of the yards were mowed and clean of debris. Most of the houses had no cars in the driveway, but she just assumed that meant that most of the people were at work or running errands. She looked at the house across the street and saw a man coming out of the front door. He was fairly tall, with a medium build and his light brown hair hung down to almost his back. He was wearing a t-shirt that had sweat spots, evidence of him working hard. His jeans were covered in spots of paint, so she figured he was either a painter working at the house, or was working on painting one of the rooms in his own house. As he caught sight of her, he gave a friendly wave. She waved back tentatively and turned to pick up the next box, embarrassed that she had been caught staring.

It only took her a few more minutes and she had everything in the house and out of the truck. Now, the real job of unpacking started. She had to decide where to put everything. She was glad she had had the movers bring the big stuff in and had allowed them to decide where to put it. So far, she hadn't found anything that she wanted to move, but she hadn't been upstairs yet either. She grabbed one of the smaller boxes at the bottom of the stairs and made her way up. As she walked past the first door, she noticed that they had put the smaller bed in that room, making it the guest room. That was fine with her, since she wanted the biggest room for herself. She walked all the way to the end of the hall, turning on lights as she went and opened the door, which had been closed for some reason. When she opened it, her breath caught in her throat. In the middle of the far wall, her bed had been completely set up. Above it, a large picture of her and her mother had been hung. In the picture, she was a little girl on a swing, smiling happily as her mother pushed her. Her mother, looking healthy and happy, stood with her arms out in front of her, obviously having just given the girl a big push. She remembered that day. It was the day before her life had changed forever.

The next day, she had learned that, not only was the woman she had known as her mother all her life up to that point dying of cancer, but that she also wasn't her mother at all. She didn't know the full story yet, and se doubted she ever would. All she knew was that her mom had adopted her as a baby from a young girl that couldn't take care of her. She learned, from talking to other relatives later, that at about the time she had been born, her mother had worked as an aid at a mental hospital that was close to where she now lived. She decided she would see if she could learn any more now that she lived closer and may have a little more push with the badge she would now carry. She knew she would do what she could to find out her ancestry, but that she still loved her mom and nothing she found out would ever change that.

She turned from the picture with tears in her eyes and, after dropping the box, turned and went back to the bathroom. She had already hung a hand towel from the hook by the sink. She intended to wash her hands and face, get something to eat, and curl up in bed and sleep. It had gotten dark as she carried the last few boxes in and she was starting to feel very tired. She reached for the handles on the sink, not really paying attention. When she finally did look down, she let out a blood curdling scream, backed away and tripped over a box behind her. As she hit the floor, her eyes closed and she lost all thought.