Soon, I will be moving in with Em permanently. We're engaged and I want to start building a life with her. My mother needs to understand that even though we may be young, we are two halves of an old soul.
I pull into the driveway and see her red Mini Cooper sitting there. This house was purchased after Ma came back from Toronto with me. We lived in a small two bedroom townhome before that which we lived in with Nana Germaine until she passed before I was a year old.
I sit in the Hummer and watch the house for a bit thinking about how I will broach this subject with Ma. She’s always been a little closed mouth about Nana and never gives me much detail. I have no memories of the woman, but I do know that she was married briefly to Ma’s dad until he died in a hunting accident when Ma was five.
I get out of the Hummer and notice the lawn’s been cut and cringe when I remember it was supposed to be my turn to do it. I remind myself to thank Travis when I get back to Em’s.
I open the front door with my key and smell mac and cheese, my favourite dish.
“Ma!”
“Kitchen.” She yells back.
I get to the kitchen and see her sitting at the table with a glass of wine.
“Mac and cheese?” I ask her. “Did you know I was coming?”
“No.” She chuckles. “I was going to bring it by when it was done though.”
“Can we talk?”
“Sure Son.” She nods and puts her phone down.
“I want to know more about Nana Germaine and why she decided to come to Whitsborough.”
“Oh?” Her brow raises. “Why?”
“Just curious. Seeing her ring on Em’s finger reminds me that I know next to nothing about how our family came to be.”
“Mother and Father moved here to Whitsborough when I was three years old. Originally, we are from North Carolina but according to Mother, it wasn’t safe where we were living.” She gets this far off look in her eye. “Mother was a maid to a wealthy family there and it was all she knew, so she applied for that here in Whitsborough, too. Father was a good groundskeeper and a notable marksman when it came to hunting rifles.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me about this stuff before?”
“Because there is a bit of a scandal related to your grandparents and I didn’t want you to feel ashamed.”
“I want to know everything, Ma.” I tell her sternly.
She nods her head and continues, “they found a family here in Whitsborough, Canada. A quiet little town and far enough away from the troubles they had in North Carolina. Which family? The Cravens.”
My heart stops and I look at her wide eyed. “Ember’s family?”
“Yes, her grandparents, Jack and Laurann Craven. Jack was an avid hunter and he bonded with my father right away. Laurann was more quiet and stayed to herself so Mother was mostly there to cook and clean. One day, Father and Jack were out hunting and Jack came back to tell us there was a terrible accident, Father was shot by a hunter and died instantly.”
“What?” I look at her in shock. “Who did it? Were they put in jail?”
“No one fessed up to it and it was a different time back then. Nobody was charged but there were rumours. Some believed it was Jack himself, trying to get rid of my father because he knew too much.”
“About what?” My phone vibrates in my pocket but I ignore it, it’s probably Em.
“I don’t know.” She shakes her head. “Mother never talked about it and whenever I asked she would shut me up. She was different after that. I wasn’t allowed up at the main house too often and if I wanted to play with Rebecca and Debra, they would have to come down to the cottage. Mother and I moved off the property when I was twelve and we lived in that townhome until you and I moved to Toronto.”
“How did Nana die?”
“That’s another scandal,” she shakes her head. “As you know Nana died in a car crash when you were a baby.”
“Yeah.” My phone vibrates again.
“Jack and Laurann were also in that car and there was a lot of speculation about the cause of the accident.”
I am completely speechless and couldn’t form words even if I tried.
“Some believe it wasn’t an accident at all, that the car was set on fire and meant to kill everyone inside.”
“Why was Nana in that car with them?” I ask quietly, my heart racing.
“She still worked for them and they were going to town for lunch. This was a weekly thing and they did it every Friday without fail. Same time, same place.”
“So, whoever killed them knew their schedule.” I mutter.
“There’s no evidence they were killed, Son. The fire chief and police chief at the time ruled it an accident. Yes, I was skeptical at first but I had to let it go or it would consume me. I was already in a difficult situation at the time and Debra needed me. We needed each other.”
My phone goes off again and I ignore it, I need to find out every single thing before I speak to Em.
“It’s easy for things to be covered up in this town.” I tell her.
“I know.” She runs her hand over her short red hair. “I’m just one person and I was afraid to rock the boat.”
“You have no idea the amount of things one person can do when they put their minds to it.” I think of Em.
"I'm not that person." She huffs and rests her cheek in her hand.
"Ma," I lean over the table.
