Broken Pieces Read Free

she went around opening windows, Mariah stood in the hallway and tried to think of one moment of joy that she’d experienced within these walls.
    Her father had presented himself to the world as a pious, godly man, but in truth he’d been domineering and abusive. Her mother had been a cold woman who never should have had the privilege of bearing a child. Mariah wasn’t sure which of her parents she blamed more for her unhappy childhood—the father who beat her or the mother who silently condoned it.
    “Mom?” Kelsey walked back to the foyer. “You’re going to freak when you see the kitchen. It doesn’t look like it’s been cleaned for about ten years.”
    “I don’t think I’m ready to face that just yet. Why don’t we go upstairs and see where we’re going to sleep while we’re here.”
    Kelsey bounded up the stairs with more enthusiasm for exploring than Mariah felt. She followed her daughter more slowly, trying to shake off the faintedge of depression that had fallen over her the moment she’d opened the front door.
    The carpeting going up the stairs was threadbare and the wooden spindles were dusty. A little lemon oil would take care of the dust and she suspected beneath the carpeting was oak flooring that would be beautiful when sanded and varnished.
    The house was free and clear of debt and Mariah figured she could afford to put a little money into it in order to get top dollar when it resold. That would put a tidy sum of money into Kelsey’s college fund.
    Kelsey had disappeared and Mariah hurried up the rest of the stairs to find her. The first bedroom was a small guest room that held only a bare double bed and a dresser. The second bedroom had been Mariah’s and it was there she found Kelsey.
    The girl stood at the window and when Mariah entered the room, she turned to face her mother. “This was your room, wasn’t it?” She pointed to the window. “That was the tree you used to climb down to sneak out.”
    Mariah moved to stand next to her at the window. The big, leafy oak tree had been her vehicle of escape. “That’s it.” She placed an arm around Kelsey’s shoulder. “Now that I look at the tree, I’m surprised I didn’t break a leg or an arm on one of my rare escapes.”
    Kelsey leaned her head against Mariah. “You know what I think?”
    “What’s that?”
    “I think we should have a switch-burning party tonight. Maybe we could pick up some marshmallows and roast them in the fireplace as we watch those stupid sticks burn.”
    Mariah tightened her arm around her daughter,love welling up inside her. She’d told Kelsey a lot about her childhood, but there were many secrets she hadn’t told her and some lies that had been told as truths.
    “Just think of it this way. If things hadn’t been so terrible here, I never would have run away. And if I hadn’t run away, I wouldn’t have met your father and had you. And having you was the very best thing that I’ve ever done in my whole life.”
    Kelsey laughed and moved out of her mother’s embrace. “You’re just trying to butter me up so I won’t be a pain in your ass while we’re here.”
    “There is that,” Mariah agreed with a laugh.
    “Can I have the guest room across the hall?” Kelsey asked.
    “Sure. Let’s see if we can find some clean linens in the hall closet.”
    The closet yielded the required linens and as Kelsey got busy making up the bed where she’d sleep, Mariah wandered down the hallway. The bathroom was in relatively good shape, although she was surprised to see the same blue flowered guest towels hanging on the rack as when she was still living at home. When Mariah had lived here, there had never been a guest in the house; it was no wonder they still looked new.
    Her parents’ room was at the end of the hallway and she stepped inside and gazed around, unsurprised that the room was smaller than she remembered. The double bed had been stripped to the mattress and the only thing on the wall was a large