Mrs. Avery

Chapter 45

And suddenly Agnes was struck with the resemblance this woman shared with Momma. Her mouth dropped. The woman started to slowly turn to walk away. There was nothing else to be said from what she could see.

"No, wait!" Agnes burst out.

She stopped and sighed. "Honey, I don't have anything for you. I didn't know her. I missed my chance at that."

Agnes eyes filled with tears and her mouth dropped as she shook her head.

"We... uh... we... We could go get a cup of coffee. Something." Her voice trembled.

"I didn't know her, baby."

"I know... I don't know what I expect from it. It just... it couldn't hurt."

The woman's heart broke for Agnes. And she reluctantly nodded. Agnes set down the flowers for Momma, Molly, and Chris and then started walking back towards her car. The older woman followed her all the way and then went to the passenger side.

"Are you sure you're okay to leave your car behind?" Agnes asked. She didn't actually see another car around, but it seemed like the logical thing to ask.

"My granddaughter dropped me off. I'll text her and tell her to pick me up at this coffee shop."

The car ride started with an obvious awkward silence until Agnes finally broke it. "How did you find out that Momma was your biological mother?"

Agnes Sr. sighed. "She kept in touch with my parents all those years, when I was young. They didn't tell me who she was until I was about 25 years old and I had no interest in finding her then."

"Why now?"

Agnes Sr. sighed again, clearly agitated.

"We don't have to talk about it. I'm sorry." Agnes corrected herself quickly.

"No, you're fine." She waved her off. "I just have to get my thoughts together. I've never talked about this before."

There was a long silence before Agnes Sr. spoke again.

"I always knew I was adopted. There was no hiding that and I was fine with it. I loved my parents and they would answer questions about my biological mother, but I was never offered the chance to meet her. She only had me for a little while as a baby until she found my parents and they gave me one picture of her. They said she was crazy making sure that they would love me, that they were the right fit, and after she was sure, she promised them she wouldn't interfere." She paused and her eyes watered. "What I didn't find out about for a long time was that fact that this woman would call them to check up on me until I was 22 years old. And when I think back to that birthday. I probably could have pieced it together, but I didn't. I can remember that conversation really clearly."

~~~

"Hello." Agnes Sr. answered the phone.

"June?" Katherine asked.

"Nope, this is Agnes, but I can get her for you."

"That would be great, honey, thank you. Oh and I heard it was your birthday sweetheart. Happy birthday. I hope you're having a great day." She sounded like she was about to cry.

"I am, thank you. I'll get my mom on the phone for you in a second."

Agnes put down the phone and ran off to get her mother.