Trish sighed, leaning her head back against the seat of her truck for a moment before pulling out of the driveway. She hoped she’d helped John, even if it was only to set things into motion. After a moment, she turned the key in the ignition, and started making her way back to her place. John was a puzzle, she decided, and not just due to some memory loss. It felt like he wanted to make a connection with her, establish a friendship, but it also felt like she was being kept at arm’s length, and she wasn’t sure if it was due to his recovery process or something else. In the end, she decided it didn’t matter – she wanted to try and be friends with him, or to at least help him get a better footing.
At a stoplight, she decided she’d spend some time shopping, rather than go home just then. There were a few things she could use, and anyway, she hadn’t been out much in a while. Not on her own anyway, and not for fun shopping. She ended up heading for North Star Mall, and largely did a lot of window shopping, though she did pick up a few things, mainly a little in the way of new clothes, sunglasses, smell good stuffs from Bath & Body Works, and snacked a little while she mulled over what to do next. On a whim, she popped over into Build-A-Bear to look around.
After a bit of searching, she picked up a basic ‘timeless teddy’ style bear, and took it over to get filled with stuffing, then added its heart and made a recording that the bear could say. The recording was nothing special, just a simple ‘you’re not alone in this – you can do it!’. The process was fun, and it had been ages since she had done this. Looking over the outfits, she chose a pair of basic jeans, and a little tee that read ‘stay pawsitive’, before collecting it’s little birth certificate, filling it out, and boxing it up.
She was on her way out after that, not intending to do any more shopping, but one more store caught her eye. Pausing, she stood outside, looking up at the sign and wondering if it was a good idea to head inside the Hot Topic. After a bit though, she wandered in, and began looking around. There were several things there she liked, but they were too reminiscent of a toxic and painful past, so she avoided them. She lingered for a while, looking over the goth fare and the pop culture kitsch, about to leave when some of that same pop culture attire caught her eye. It was themed after The Craft, a movie she remembered seeing and had liked, though less for it’s magic themes and more about the relationships between the main characters.
After sifting through what the store had in stock, she chose a pair of black hi-top sneakers that read ‘stay weird’, and a black tee of the main characters, with what had to be the best line from the movie. After paying and saying a cheerful goodbye to the clerk, she turned, nearly bumping into someone.
“Oh! Sorry!” she started, then froze.
“Well, if it isn’t our lost little Ophelia.” came a smooth, seductive voice.
“Hello, Corbin.” she said, quickly looking to see if anyone was with him.
“Haven’t’ seen you in a couple of years. We’ve been trying to get in touch with you.”
“Yeah…well… Dad and I had to move and there were…life things.” she said, making an excuse.
“You don’t call, you don’t text….what’s the matter, baby girl?” he said, reaching a hand out to her face.
Trish sidestepped. “I can’t stay to talk. I’ve got to be somewhere.”
He grabbed her arm before she could leave. “Hunter misses you too.”
“Goodbye Corbin.” she said, shrugging him off and making her way out of the store quickly. He called out after her, but she didn’t hear him, her sole goal at the moment to get to her truck. Once she’d managed to get there, she put her stuff in the back seat of the cab, locked the doors, and tried not to freak out. The last thing she needed or wanted was for her past to come back.
After a bit, she calmed down, but she most definitely didn’t want to go home anymore. She wasn’t about to head to her Dad’s apartment, so she turned the car towards the highway, leaving San Antonio to make the nearly thirty-minute drive to her grandfather’s ranch. She could talk to him about switching her classes anyway, she decided. The drive itself went fine, and she began to feel more relaxed when she heard the gravel crunch under the tires as she pulled up to the house.
She made her way up to the porch, stopping to appreciate the feeling of home she got before knocking, pulling open the screen door and heading inside only after she heard her grandfather yell for her to come in.
“Hey Grandpa, where are you?” she called.
“Kitchen.” he called back, and she made her way there, only to find him standing there in his usual jeans and work shirt, wearing an apron that had been heavily dusted with flour, and looking confounded. She couldn’t help but smile.
“You seem lost.” she said.
“Well, you know I’m not normally this bad in the kitchen. But I just can’t seem to remember the recipe right.”
“Which one?” she asked, walking over to give him a hug.
“Your Nana’s spice cake.” he said.
“Missing Nana really bad again?” she asked, getting a nod in response.
“Well, lucky for you, Nana taught me the recipe.” she said, pulling down another apron and helping her grandfather make the cake. While they worked, she talked to him about school, and wanting to change majors.
“Honey, I am not going to cut you off or be remotely disappointed. I didn’t even know your father did such an asshole maneuver.”
“Thank you Grandpa.” she said smiling.
“So what are you thinking of doing?” he asked her.
“I’m not sure. I mean…theoretically, culinary is an option, but I don’t think I want to pursue it as a career, even if I am good at it.” she said. “Maybe design, maybe just something where I can help people.”
“You used to want to be a vet, if I recall.” he said.
“Okay, but I was also five.” she said.
“You still volunteering at the hospital? How are you liking that?”
“It’s been okay. I started out just doing generic help, but the I decided to focus on other things. I’ve been spending time talking to coma patients. The ones who didn’t get visitors, anyway.” she said.
“Any particular reason?” he wondered.
“Well, I just always remember Nana saying that until someone is truly gone, you should always reach out, ‘cause you never know what might happen.”
“Your Nana was a good soul.” he said, and she nodded.
“So what aren’t you telling me?” he inquired as they put the cake in the oven.
“Oh…umm..well, she was right. One of the coma patients woke up. He doesn’t have any relatives, so I kept talking to him, trying to help him out. He’s pretty nice, so far.”
“Just be careful, alright? I don’t want another Hunter incident.” he said.
“I’m being careful. I don’t want that either.” she said, working on cleanup.
“Honey…what’s wrong?” he asked.
“I saw Corbin today. That means he’s going to tell Hunter he saw me. They might try to track me down, and that ideas scares me. I don’t want to have to go to Dad and tell him about it. You know he’s going to want me to break my lease and move back in with him.” she said, shaking slightly.
“You’d move here, if anything.” he insisted. “Try not to worry about it too much, sweetheart. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
“You think so?” she asked.
“Yeah. Just don’t take that as a ticket to be reckless, okay? We’ve been through that once, and I nearly had a few heart attacks when you were in that phase.”
“Sorry.” she said sheepishly.
“It’s alright sweetheart. I just wish I’d have known sooner, so I could help. Now….why don’t you help me make dinner?”
“Okay.” she said, smiling. By the time she left, she was feeling a lot better, and had some fresh fried chicken, mashed potatoes and biscuits in hand, along with some pieces of Nana’s spice bread. When she got back to town, she made a stop at a local delivery place, and paid them to basically make a small delivery for her. She handed over a serving of the dinner, as well as the Build-A-Bear box, and gave them John’s address, along with a note: ‘Had a busy errand day after I left. I paid someone to deliver this to you, so I hope you don’t mind I didn’t deliver it myself. Enjoy, and I hope you’re making progress without overdoing it!’
After ensuring it would be going out right then, she headed home. It wasn’t late enough to be bedtime, but the day had been kind of emotionally draining, so she made some tea and curled up on the sofa to watch a movie and eat her dinner.