Daughters by Florence Osmund Page B

beginning. I don’t want to miss even one small detail,” Karen said. “But first, do you have any idea how much I’ve missed you? Can’t tell you how many times I went to the phone to call you, and then stopped short when I remembered you weren’t there.” She paused to take a breath. “What did I do before you?”
    “I missed you too. And I kept a journal so I wouldn’t forget anything.” Marie got up to get the journal and came back with it, two glasses, and a bottle of red wine. “I have a second bottle…I have lots to tell.”
    The two women talked well into the evening hours, Marie doing most of it. A bottle-and-a-half of wine later, Marie finished with her account.
    “So I’m getting some mixed signals from you. Are you happy about the way it went?” Karen asked.
    “Yes, all in all, I am. Melvin actually apologized for his behavior. I forgot to tell you that. And Claire…well, I think Jonathan knows her best, and he said to give her time.”
    “But she was better by the end of the visit?”
    “Definitely. Maybe not all the way, and who knows, maybe she’ll never be. I wouldn’t blame her.”
    “So you learned more about Jonathan’s relationship with your mother, more about his family, his roots.”
    “Yes, and they are the most beautiful people, Karen, and the way they all welcomed me into their family, into their lives really, just makes me feel so good.”
    “So do you think being with them has changed you?”
    Marie thought about her question for a few seconds. “No. It hasn’t changed me. But being part of their family has changed how I perceive myself.”
    “How so?”
    “I don’t know. Just the fact that I feel like I’m part of a family now. That makes a big difference.”
    “So do you have this whole thing figured out now?”
    “No. I don’t have anything figured out. I just feel better somehow, like I belong somewhere.”
    “As long as you’re inside their home.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “The same old world still exists outside of their home,” Karen pointed out.
    If she wasn’t such a good friend, Marie would have challenged her statement. “My trip was just a beginning. I’m not going to abandon my idealistic dreams just yet.” She thought about the Serenity Prayer Claire had left on her pillow and wondered if Claire and Karen were more alike than she and either one of them. “But I didn’t tell you about the best part of my visit.”
    “What?”
    Marie told Karen about her plans for Christmas and that the invitation had been extended to include her.
    Karen’s head jerked backward. “You’re kidding! They want me to come too?”
    “Yes. And so do I. I’d like you to meet them.”
    Karen hesitated. “I don’t know, Marie. I’d feel so out of place there.”
    Marie looked at Karen without saying anything.
    “You know what I mean. I’d be the only…”
    “Nothing I’ve said has had any affect on you, has it?”
    “C’mon, don’t be mad at me. I just see things how they really are.”
    Marie sighed.
    “Okay.” Karen relented. “Count me in.”
    “Good. Now tell me about the things you wanted to talk about while I was gone.”
    “Oh, nothing really.”
    “They must have been important then.”
    “Well, maybe one thing. Remember Maurice Cooper?”
    “The lawyer next door to your shop?”
    Her face flushed. “Well…we sorta went out.”
    “What?! You waited all this time to tell me that? You louse! You went out with him? Where? And how did that come about?”
    Karen pulled out a piece of chocolate from her pants pocket and popped it in her mouth.
    “Okay, so one day I was locking up the back door of my store, and he was leaving his office the same time, and we kinda bumped into each other. Our cars were parked side by side, so we walked over to them together, just passing the time of day kind of thing. I was unlocking my door, and he said, ‘Are you hungry?’ I said, ‘Yeah, kind of.’ And he said, ‘Want to grab some dinner with