Chapter 5 - The Woman Waiting by the Window
On Saturday morning, Nicole stood outside a café in downtown Atlanta, holding the silver butterfly necklace her mother had given her years earlier.
She hadn't worn it.
She kept it wrapped around her fingers.
Inside the café, a woman sat beside the window.
She wore a blue cardigan and had dark curls pinned loosely behind her head.
A cup of tea rested untouched in front of her.
Nicole stopped walking.
Even after seven years, she knew that face.
Ava looked up.
Their eyes met.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then Ava stood.
"Nicole?"
Nicole opened the door.
Her mother stepped away from the table.
She seemed unsure whether to approach.
Nicole understood.
For years, both of them had been waiting for someone else to make the first move.
This time, Nicole did.
She crossed the room.
"Mom."
Ava covered her mouth.
Nicole fell into her arms.
For a few seconds, the café disappeared.
There was only the familiar smell of her mother's perfume and the strange feeling of remembering something her body had never forgotten.
Ava held her tightly.
"My baby," she whispered.
Nicole began crying.
Ava did too.
After a while, they sat down.
Neither touched their drink.
Nicole looked at her mother carefully.
There were faint lines around Ava's eyes that hadn't been there before.
A little gray at her temples.
She looked older.
Real.
Not like the frozen photograph Nicole had carried in her mind.
"I thought you forgot me," Nicole said.
Ava's eyes filled.
"Never."
"Why didn't you come to my school? Or write to me yourself?"
Ava looked down.
"At first, I did send cards. Some came back because your father had moved. Later, I was told you didn't want them."
She paused.
"But that doesn't excuse all the years I stayed away."
Nicole listened.
Ava continued.
"I was embarrassed by how my marriage ended. I was afraid of making things harder for you. And sometimes I was afraid you'd look at me and see a stranger."
Nicole looked at the necklace in her hand.
"I did feel like you were a stranger."
Ava nodded.
"I understand."
"But I wanted to know you anyway."
A tear slipped down Ava's cheek.
"I wish I'd known that."
Nicole placed the necklace on the table.
"Do you remember this?"
Ava smiled through her tears.
"The butterfly."
"You gave it to me on my ninth birthday."
"I remember. You insisted the wings looked purple even though they were silver."
Nicole laughed softly.
"They did look purple."
"In certain light," Ava agreed.
For the first time, the conversation felt easy.
They talked about school.
About Nicole's interest in graphic design.
About Ava's job managing a small alterations business.
About the apartment with the yellow quilt.
Ava still owned the quilt.
She had kept it folded in a closet.
"I didn't know whether you'd ever want to see it," she admitted.
Nicole stared at her.
"I do."
They talked for almost three hours.
Sometimes they laughed.
Sometimes Nicole asked questions that made Ava cry.
Neither pretended that one afternoon could replace seven years.
Before they left, Ava asked, "Would you be comfortable if I called you tomorrow?"
Nicole smiled.
"Yes."
"And the day after?"
Nicole laughed.
"Mom, you don't have to schedule every phone call."
Ava looked almost relieved.
"I just don't want to overstep."
Nicole reached across the table.
"Just call me."
Outside, they took a photograph together.
Nicole held the phone.
Ava stood beside her.
They were smiling, but both had red eyes.
It wasn't a perfect picture.
Nicole loved it anyway.
When Marcus picked her up, he didn't ask whether Ava had said anything about him.
He didn't ask whether Nicole had cried.
He simply asked, "How was it?"
Nicole studied his face.
"It was good."
Marcus nodded.
"I'm glad."
After a moment, Nicole added, "She kept my yellow quilt."
Marcus's eyes softened.
"I remember that quilt."
"She wants me to see it."
He looked at the road.
"Then you should."
Nicole stared out the window.
For the first time in years, the thought of her mother did not feel like a closed door.
That evening, Marcus sat down with Tessa.
Nicole could hear their voices from the hallway.
They weren't shouting.
That was unusual lately.
Marcus told Tessa he needed time to decide what their marriage would look like after the lies.
Tessa said she understood.
She had arranged to stay with her sister for a few days while they worked through what had happened.
Elijah would spend the weekend with her.
Marcus had also suggested family counseling.
Not because a counselor could erase the past.
But because neither of them had handled the truth well enough on their own.
Nicole returned to her bedroom.
She opened the blue tin box and removed the wedding dress.
For years, the gown had been a missing piece of her mother's life.
Now it was something different.
Evidence that Ava had remembered her.
Evidence that Tessa had been afraid.
And evidence that Marcus had allowed his own pain to shape the story he told his daughter.
Nicole folded the dress carefully.
Then she picked up the photograph of Ava and Tessa.
The numbers on the back were no longer mysterious.
They were her mother's phone number.
Nicole saved it under one simple name.
MOM.
A moment later, a message appeared.
"Thank you for seeing me today. I love you."
Nicole stared at the screen.
Then she typed:
"I love you too."
May you like
She pressed send.
And for the first time in seven years, she knew her mother would receive the words.
