Severed Mother-Daughter Ties novel · Chapter 23 of 24
Chapter 23: Strawberry
Kristen's POV
Lacey met us at the top of the stairs, with a walker and a grin and a cooler bag over her arm.
"Don't say it," she said. "I know I'm not supposed to climb. Dad carried me up the stairs and complained the whole way."
"I did not complain," Chester called from below. "I made observations."
Wylie took the cooler bag, and Lacey pointed her walker at the white door.
It had been shut the last time I came.
Now it stood a little open, and the afternoon light fell across the hall carpet.
"It's been Annie-Rose's room since before I was born," Lacey said. "I was never allowed to sleep in it. I used to sit outside and read."
"Lace."
"I want to open it with you. If you want to."
I put my hand on the wood.
I thought of the night of the dinner, and the yellow dress laid out on the bed.
"Okay," I said.
The room was exactly as it had been.
White quilt, white curtains, a shelf of picture books with the spines turned out.
A framed school photo of a child who had never gone to school, painted from a drawing.
The yellow sundress lay on the bed, with white sandals beneath it on the floor.
Wylie stood in the doorway, and I could feel him watching me instead of the room.
"It's so small," I said.
"Is it?" Lacey said.
"I thought it was bigger. In my head, it was always the biggest room in the house."
"What would you do with it?"
I looked at the sandals.
"I'd put them in a box," I said. "I'd put the dress in the box. I'd put the picture books in a box for the children's ward, and the quilt in the wash."
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