Summer was a curious child and asked a lot of questions, but Zachary answered them all patiently anyway. I decided to go help out with the tacos and joined the others in the kitchen.
“Do you know how to make tacos?” Anthony asked when he saw me come in.
I nodded at him and washed my hands before helping him out. “My grandma taught me how to do it when I was little.”
“Didn’t you grow up in the South? Not many people from the South know how to make tacos, even in the older generations. My mom didn’t know how to make them either,” Sally said when she heard that.
“Maybe it’s because my grandma has been to a lot of places. She’d make tons of them every year because she prefers Northern cuisine.”
Sally chuckled. “Haha, I get this feeling that she’s a Northerner born in the body of a Southerner!”
“I don’t think she’s ever told me about her past, though. So all my memories of her are from our life in R Province.”
Cameron walked up to me and asked, “Have you ever wondered how your grandma got to know Old Mr. Featherstone and why she trusted him enough to entrust him with you? Has he ever told you how they got to know each other?”
I shook my head. “No.”
I had never really thought about that before. Grandma didn’t have any friends or family in R Province, and she rarely even talked to our neighbors there. Macy’s mom once mentioned that Grandma was in her fifties when she moved to R Province.
Then she bought herself a little house there and found me some time after that. Thereafter, she raised me all by herself, and no one really bothered to ask her where she came from as time went by.
“Do you know your grandma’s name?” Sally asked curiously.
“Winona Stanhope. I took on her last name.”
This reminds me… Why did John’s father entrust Grandma with him? There are plenty of other families in R Province that are much wealthier, so why choose Grandma?
“Your grandma left you a topaz gemstone in the sandalwood box she gave you. Have you ever taken a look inside?” Cameron asked.
I shook my head in disbelief. “No, I couldn’t get it to open.”
“We’ll open it tonight!” Anthony said.
I nodded in response, feeling a little curious myself.
After lunch, Cameron and Sally suggested that we have a barbecue in the yard as we had lots of ingredients lying around from our grocery shopping yesterday.
I was helping with assembling the grill when Sally pulled me aside and said, “We’ve got two men here to do that, so just leave it and join me for a walk instead! We’ve got some catching up to do!”
After snapping out of my daze, I did as told and followed her to the rear house.
Flora had recently loosened up the soil and planted some seeds there, so there wasn’t much to see at the moment.
“Are you and Anthony planning on having another wedding?” Sally asked as she sat down on the swing in the yard.
I shook my head. “Nope!”
She pursed her lips and paused for a moment before continuing, “Then… Have you two been practicing proper birth control lately?”
I felt my face burning up a little. “No!”
“That’s good. Summer is turning five soon, so it’s about time you two have a second child. I can help look after your kids. That would help improve your relationship with the Moore family too,” she said with a nod.
I kept quiet upon hearing that.
Sally continued, “By the way, you should advise Anthony to go easy on Marcus. I was married to Benjamin for ten years, so you could say I’m quite close to the White family. Anthony’s actions are a little overboard, so I need you to try to talk some sense into him.”
“Aunt Sally, I’m not exactly in a position to talk to Anthony about this. In fact, things could get a lot worse if I do…” I replied.
“Damn it… It’s all my fault!” she exclaimed with a sigh.
I knew I should try and talk Anthony out of it, especially since I owed Marcus a favor, but things just wouldn’t be the same anymore if I did. The two of them had been rivals for many years, but it was nothing like this. Besides, I didn’t know what Marcus told him the other day that made him hell-bent on finishing him off.
The barbecue had begun by the time we got back to the main house. “Here, try some of this!” Anthony said as he handed me a plate of grilled chicken and vegetables.
“You grilled these yourself?” I asked with a smile.
He nodded. “Go on. Try it!”
I sat down by the side and gave it a try. It tasted really great and reminded me of the soup from earlier. “I wonder if Hannah is with John right now… Aunt Sally made quite a lot of food, so maybe we should bring them some…”
Cameron was a great cook, and having Sally around to help out made the soup even better.
Anthony nodded. “I’ll have Joseph deliver it tonight!”
“You aren’t the only one who is celebrating New Year’s Eve tonight, you know? Shouldn’t you let Joseph spend time with his wife and kids instead?”
“Hmm… Are you suggesting that I deliver it myself?”
“Yes, please!”
He leaned closer toward me and whispered, “Do I get a reward?”
I gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Will this do?”
Anthony’s face lit up with joy. “Yes, it will! You know, I thought you’d want me to bring it to Emery instead as you two seem really close.”
“Do you believe in there being another version of yourself in this world?” I asked.
He raised an eyebrow at me and waited for me to continue.
“Emery and Macy are really alike. I can see traces of Macy’s innocence, cheerfulness, passion, and honesty in Emery. In fact, when I look at her, I can almost feel like Macy’s still here with me. Hannah, on the other hand, is humble and stubborn like me. We’re practically like two peas in a pod, and I can understand exactly what she’s going through right now. That’s probably why I feel the urge to look after her.”
To be precise, Hannah resembles my old self. I know how much it hurts to wait and to keep hanging in there despite being hurt badly by the ones we love so much…
I looked up at Anthony when I heard no response from him and saw him staring at me.
“Anthony, I…”
He reached out and pulled me into his arms before I could finish. “I’m sorry! I won’t let it happen again!”
It took me quite a while to realize that he was blaming himself for what happened to me.
“Don’t overthink it, Anthony. I wasn’t talking about you when I said all that.”
“Okay…” he mumbled softly.
I guess memories of the past exist as a means of reminding us to appreciate the present… I let out a sigh at the thought of that.
Sally broke into a grin when she saw us hugging.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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