Emersyn woke up twelve hours later feeling viciously hungry but having nothing in the house to eat. She vowed to go to the grocery store first thing in the morning. And then she headed back to her room, where she slept for another six hours before finally feeling well rested. It was so early in the morning, and now she was ravenous. She got up and began searching through her grandma's old cabinets, hoping that there was something edible in them four years later. She found a can of chicken soup that had a sell by date of next year, so she popped the lid open and began heating it up on the stove.

While she was waiting for the soup to heat up, she searched for her phone and found it still in her sweater pocket from earlier. She pulled it out and found ten missed calls from her mom, four voicemails, and five texts. She checked the texts first, and saw that Kiel had called the water and electric companies to have them turn power and water back on at her grandma's house. Now her house. She shook her head at the thought. It was still strange to her that the house was hers now, even though she'd read the words on the folded piece of paper in her pocket probably a million times.

She went back to the soup, and the smell was so good that she made a mental note to thank Kiel for turning on the power for her. She hadn't even thought to do that, having been so tired when she first got home. While she was stirring the soup, she read the other messages, all from her mom. First one was a simple, "Where are you?" Second was, "Are you kidding me?" Third was, "Answer the phone, Emersyn." And the fourth was a long paragraph about how she couldn't believe she would just leave and not answer any of her calls. This got the blood in Emersyn's veins boiling. She knew she should listen to her voicemails too, but she decided against it and deleted all the ones from her mom. They would talk later, but on her terms. Right now, Emersyn wanted to just enjoy being home again.

She ate the soup like it was her last meal, and then headed back upstairs and began unpacking. It felt weird to be putting all of her things back in her drawers. It wasn't that long ago that she'd taken them all out. She remembered that day, even though for years she'd tried to forget it. Funny how memories you want to keep slip away, but the dark ones cling on like gum to the bottom of a shoe. Her grandma had been slipping away for a while, but after having a breakdown on the highway with Emersyn in the car, Kiel had done the only thing he could think to do. He called her mother. So at fifteen years old, she'd had to pack everything she'd known and leave the island that had been her only home to move to the big city.

A few times she'd begged her mom to let her come back, but it was like her mom wanted nothing to do with the place where she herself had grown up. Even though they were just a small distance away, Emersyn never came to visit. The only time she'd come back was during her grandma's wake a year ago, and even then her mom hadn't come. She'd been too busy with work and her new boyfriend to pay her respects. That was when things started to change. When Emersyn's feelings had shifted from wanting to gain her mom's approval, to hurt and rage at her mom for caring so little about the life she'd once had that she couldn't even be there when she was needed most.

The sun had completely risen by the time she'd finished setting up her easel and art supplies by her bedroom window. She checked the time on her phone and saw that it was 8am. Perfect time to run to the store and get groceries. She gathered up some clothes and toiletries from her bedroom and headed to the bathroom, hoping that a nice hot shower would help wash away the resentment she was holding onto. But after a couple minutes in the water it turned ice cold. She screamed and hopped out, almost slipping on the old bathroom rug in her hurry to be in the warmth again.

Reminding herself to tell Kiel about this later, she gave up on the shower and began blow drying her hair. Then she did her makeup, threw on a pair of ripped jean shorts, a green patterned tube top, and a fringed denim jacket with short sleeves. She threw her hair back in a long ponytail and grabbed a golden and green turban style headband to wear on top of her head. Then she slid on a pair of boots, some bangles, and headed to the garage, where she knew her old bike was waiting for her.

It looked exactly as she had remembered, except for the flat tires. But this wasn't a problem. She found the pump and aired them back up. Then she pushed it through the side door, hopped on, and began riding her bike down the street. She had her driver's license, so she probably could have driven her grandma's old Jeep. But she was pretty sure it wasn't registered. And besides, she loved the feeling of being on her bike. It was her main mode of transportation as a kid, even between the islands. On weekends, she would ride down to the ferry, buy a ticket with the money she'd earned from collecting trash on the side of the road for her grandma, and go into Port Townsend. It always felt so small and safe. When she'd moved to the city, she remembered feeling so scared all the time. Suffocated, even. Like all the people were sucking the air from around her and leaving her with nothing left.

The wind blew her hair back as she rolled into the parking lot of the local market. She pulled the bike into a bike stand and jumped off. At the store she bought enough groceries to last her at least a week. She wished she was old enough to buy alcohol, but there was no way she would get away with trying to fake it here. Everyone knew who she was. A few people even did double takes as she walked past them, unable to believe that Emersyn Collins was back in Coupeville.

In the checkout line, the cashier, a dark skinned woman with graying black hair named Doris, who Emersyn remembered would play cards with her grandma every Tuesday, said, "My word! Emersyn! When did you get back to town?"

She gave Doris a friendly smile as she loaded the contents of her cart onto the conveyor belt. "Yesterday morning."

"Where you staying, sweetie?" she asked, setting the carton of milk into a brown paper bag. "With Kiel?"

She shook her head. "No, ma'am. I'm staying at the old house. My grandma left it to me in her will."

This news didn't seem to surprise Doris at all. "Oh honey, of course she did. You know, I miss our old Bridge games on Tuesdays. Your grandma was such a sweet woman. After she died, I went searching around my attic and found an old painting she'd done when we were kids. I had it cleaned and framed. Hung it up in my living room, right over the mantle. I miss that old woman. She was one-of-a-kind."

Emersyn nodded, not really sure what to say. She felt a familiar pull to her heart, and that same old stinging sensation in the corner of her eyes. "She was great," was all she could think to say, which was not accurate at all. Her grandma was beyond great. She was her hero. The woman who stepped up to take care of her when her own mother stepped down. Who taught her everything she knew about art and set up a foundation for her build her own artistic career upon. She gave her a house. A home when she needed it most, not just once, but twice. In life and in death. She wished she had just one more minute with her grandma. To thank her for everything she did. To tell her that it wouldn't be for nothing.

If there was one thing Emersyn hated, it was being emotional in public. And thinking about her grandparents always made that rock form in the center of her throat as she tried to swallow back tears. Doris could probably see this in Emersyn, because she gasped and said, "Oh, honey, you should go visit the old church. You remember my son Gabriel?" She nodded her head, vaguely remembering him from the old church choir she performed with back in the days before she left the island. "Well, he's the new pastor at the old church now. You should stop in and visit with him when you get the chance. I'm sure he'd love to catch up with you sometime."

This brought a smile to her face. "You know what," she said as she pulled some cash out of her wallet and handed it to Doris. "I think I will. Give me a chance to get settled at the house, and I'll stop in and say hello."

Doris grinned as she pulled a few dollars in change out of the register. "He'll love that. Okay, sweetpea. You have a wonderful day. See you in church on Sunday?"

Funny, but Emersyn really hadn't thought too much about going to church. Her grandpa had been the pastor of the church when she was a kid, so she'd spent a lot of time in the old stone building. She hadn't been to church one time since she'd left the island, but the idea of going back now felt kind of like coming home. She nodded her head at Doris. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll see you at church on Sunday. You have a great day, Doris."

The old woman stepped out from behind the register and wrapped her surprisingly strong arms around Emersyn in a tight hug. And there it was again. More tears. Aside from hugging Kiel yesterday, she couldn't remember being embraced like this. Honestly, she wasn't sure her mom had hugged her in all the time they'd been together in the city. She'd never given it much thought before, but now she realized she missed the feeling. The warmth of another caring soul holding her for no other reason than to just comfort her. It was nice.

Doris released Emersyn, gave her a gentle pat on the cheek, and moved back to her place behind the counter. Emersyn shoved her change haphazardly back into her wallet and brought the groceries outside to her bike. She put them all in the large basket in the back, and then started heading home. But there was something nagging at her. Something she knew she had to do, even if she didn't know it before. So instead of going straight home, she headed to the graveyard where she knew her grandparents were both buried. Just outside the old church where her grandpa had worked as a pastor for most of his adult life. When she got to the iron gates, she leaned her bike just inside and started walking over to the family plot.

Her heart was racing as she passed different headstones covered in flowers or other items left for deceased loved ones, and it felt like there was a cable connecting her heart to the one gravestone that mattered most to her. But the truth was, the cable was connecting her heart to her family. She got there and stared at the words on the stone. "Elsie Collins and Arthur Collins," the stone read, with the words, "Dearly loved," underneath their names. Emersyn stared at the names of her grandparents. She wondered who'd had the new stone made, and figured it had to have been Kiel. He was the only one who loved her grandparents as much as she had. And then her eyes shifted a bit to the name next to theirs. "Cader Collins." Her dad. She blinked and felt the stinging in her eyes start to burn even more with fresh tears. She dropped to her knees and touched the stone, hoping they could somehow feel how dearly loved they were through the tips of her fingers.

She couldn't stay long this time. She had groceries sitting in the back of her basket. But she promised them, in her own head, that she would come back soon to visit. She hoped they could somehow hear. Then she wiped her eyes, got up, and made to leave the graveyard. But as she was approaching the gates, she heard a voice say from a few feet away from her, "Hello? Excuse me, miss?" Startled, she whipped around, not expecting to hear someone talk to her in a graveyard. A man who didn't look that much older than her was staring at her, a sheepish and slightly embarrassed expression on his face.

"Yes?" Emersyn said, pleased that her voice sounded a lot calmer than she felt.

"Sorry if I scared you," he said as he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "I just was wondering if you could help me read this?"

Authors Note: And that is all for now, folks! I will see you all again in the spring, with more chapters. Until then, thanks for reading, commenting, sharing. And all the love and support.

XOXO
~Aly