As Jessica was arriving home, her mother cheerfully greeted her, “I’m so glad you made it home in time to help me. This is a special dinner, and I thought it would be nice if we could make it together.” “So am I mom, so who did you say it was that was coming for dinner tonight,” asked Jessica. Her mother explained to her that an old friend of hers had moved back to town a little while ago and she had been meaning to have her for dinner for a while. They had talked on the phone or met up for coffee, but she really wanted her to see just how much of a young lady Jessica had grown into.
Jessica was a bit surprised, “So this old friend knows me as well? How long ago did she move away?” Jessica’s mother told her that she had moved away when Jessica was only a year old. She had sent her friend pictures of her when she was younger, but didn’t know where she was living for the last four years and was unable to continue sending her Jessica’s school pictures.
Jessica was curious as to who this friend was. She couldn’t understand why anyone close enough to her family that her mother would send them her school photos as she was growing up, could have disappeared for four years.
Jessica’s mother was preparing a roast for the oven so she decided to help her peel the vegetables to put into the roaster. Once they were done with the roast, Jessica told her mother she was going to get cleaned up before dinner. Jessica went to grab some clean clothes and went to shower off the dust from the old mill. As she was getting undressed, the gold coin fell out of her pocket. Jessica looked down and picked it up. She had completely forgotten about it. She threw on her bathrobe and ran to her room to put the coin in her lock box. She put the box back under her bed and went back to shower. As she was letting the water run on her face, she had an image of a woman talking to her mother flash in her mind. She couldn’t see the women’s face, but somehow felt she knew her.
As Jessica was finishing getting ready, she couldn’t shake the image of the mysterious women from her mind. She couldn’t understand why her mother kept referring to them as “an old friend” and never once referred to her by name. She figured she’d meet this friend soon enough, so she decided to forget about it for now.
She went back downstairs to see if her mother needed anymore help. Her mother was preparing the side dishes and asked Jessica to set the table. Her father was still out of town on business, so she set out three place settings. Her mother yelled to her to set out wine glasses as well. As Jessica was getting them out of the cabinet, her mother told her to set one for herself too. Jessica was surprised by this, as her parents only drank on special occasions, and she was never allowed any alcohol herself.
As she was finishing setting the table, she asked her mother how much longer until dinner. Her mother told her it would be another forty-five minutes. She asked her mom if she needed any other help and was told she had everything under control. Jessica decide to go and see what was on TV. As she was flipping through the channels, she heard a knock on the door. She went to answer it and as she opened the door, she saw Brenda Waters sanding there. Brenda smiled at her and said, “How’s it going Jessica?” Jessica was wondering why Brenda was at her door, and just as she was about to ask, her mother came up behind here and said to Brenda, “Good you made it. Come on in and make yourself at home.” Jessica was real puzzled. If Brenda knew she was coming to her house for dinner, why wouldn’t she have mentioned it earlier? And why when she told her mother the group of seven was going hunting for ghost at the old mill with Brenda, didn’t she mention she knew her?
As Brenda walked past Jessica, and into the house, Jessica closed the door behind her. She followed her mother and Brenda into the kitchen. “Smells delicious Missy, what are we having?” Jessica knew that only her moms close friends referred to her as ‘Missy’, everyone else always called her Melissa, or Mrs. Davis. “Jessica and I made a roast for dinner,” replied Missy. Brenda was a bit surprised, “Wow Jessica, you’ve been real busy today. First you go track down some ghost across town, then you come home and cook dinner?”
Missy asked Brenda: “So how did that ghost hunting thing go anyway? You said that you were meeting their group at the old mill. And I think you said you wanted to meet just Jessica and William for a hunt today?”
Brenda, with pride in her voice replied: “Amazingly. Those seven kids were more knowledgeable and enthusiastic than half the students in my college class. And today, I saw two of the bravest people I ever hunted with. They just wanted to get to the bottom of why strange things were happening.”
Missy, while checking the potatoes: “You’ll have to show me some of the evidence you guys gathered one day. I still am not sure I believe ghosts walk the earth, But there must be something too it if there is a science dedicated to it.”
Brenda looked at Jessica: “You haven’t shown your family any of the evidence you’ve uncovered?”
Jessica quietly replied: “No. I figured they think it’s childish and a waste of time, so why bother them with any of it.”
Missy stepped in: “We don’t think it’s childish, we just didn’t want to encourage it. I’ve known Brenda was into it for over twenty years, yet she’s still my best friend. Just because people have different opinions about something, doesn’t mean we wouldn’t be interested in listening to you.”
Jessica, a little surprised by her moms reply: “Sorry, mom. I just didn’t bother because I figured you and dad wouldn’t be interested.”
Missy smiled: “Don’t worry about it my dear. You’ll have a lot of time to show us your evidence before you go off to college.”
The three of them headed off to the dining room and sat down around the table. Brenda asked Missy, “Robert still out of town?” Missy nodded, “Yes. He had a few new clients to meet up with before he comes home.” “That’s too bad. I was hoping he was here for dinner also. I haven’t seen him in years.”
Jessica’s brain was having a little trouble processing what was happening. First she meets this lady as a teacher, who shares her passion for ghost hunting and becomes more of a friend. Then she finds out this lady is actually her mom’s best friend from years ago. She started to think that maybe that’s why Brenda looked familiar, from old pictures or something. Missy asked Jessica, “Is everything alright dear? You look a million miles away.” “Everything’s fine mom, I just was thinking about something.”
Missy went to check on dinner, and Brenda asked if she needed a hand? Missy told her she had it under control. Once Missy was out of the room, Brenda whispered to Jessica, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell her about our gold coins.” Jessica smiled, “I was wondering if you were going to say anything.”
Brenda was looking around the room, and staring at the wall of Jessica’s school photos, “So those are all you?” Jessica was a bit embarrassed, “Yeah, my mom likes to keep all of them up on the wall so she can see my progression into a young lady she says.” Brenda got up and went to look at the photos. As she was going along the wall she commented, “You look so beautiful, Jessica.” Jessica’s face started to turn red from embarrassment.
Missy walked back into the room and told everyone to grab their plates and fill up in the kitchen. All three walked along the kitchen counter and filled up their plates from all the dishes that were set up like a buffet. As they sat back down at the table, Missy took the wine and poured some for Brenda and for herself. She picked up Jessica’s glass and poured a little in it for her as well. Brenda decided to make a toast, “To the two great cooks, and to old friends and new ones.” Everyone clinked there glasses and took a sip of wine. Jessica was surprised how fruity it tasted. She could not remember ever drinking wine before. As they finished their meals, Brenda was about to pick up the plates, when Missy told her to sit down, she was a guest. Jessica stood up to take them into the kitchen and her mother told her to just sit and relax.
As Missy came back from the kitchen, she had in her hands a banana cream pie. “That’s my favourite,” was heard from both Brenda and Jessica at the same time. Miss laughed, “I knew this pie would be a hit. Jessica, could you please grab some small plates for us?” As Jessica went to get the plates, Brenda smiled at Missy, “You’ve done a wonderful job with her.” Missy smiled back, “Thank you. She is so similar to you sometimes, it’s like you didn’t move away.” Brenda’s face went serious, “Maybe we shouldn’t do it now?” Missy looked down at her arms, “We owe it to her. She deserves to know.” Brenda reached into her top and pulled out the necklace she always wore and placed it against the outside of her shirt.
Jessica brought in the plates and some forks and put them down in front of her mom. Missy served a piece of pie to each of them and sat back down to eat hers. As they were enjoying the dessert, they wondered how long it would take for Jessica to notice the necklace. As Brenda was eating the last piece of pie from her plate, Jessica finally noticed the necklace. Jessica stared at the necklace for a few moments without saying a word. She then looked down and pulled out her necklace from her shirt. She was staring at her pendant and back up at Brenda’s, “I don’t get it. I don’t understand why you would have a pendant similar to mine?”
Her mother put her hand on her shoulder, “Remember when I gave you that for your thirteenth birthday and told you your biological mother had the match to that pendant?” Brenda took off her necklace and put it on the table. Jessica did the same. As Jessica slid her pendant beside Brenda’s, it formed a perfect heart with the words “My heart will never be complete without you” engraved on it.
Jessica’s eyes started to tear up, and so did Missy’s and Brenda’s. Missy explained to Jessica, “Back when they were eighteen, Brenda became pregnant, and her boyfriend had left town before he knew about it. They couldn’t locate him anywhere, so Brenda decided to raise the baby on her own. A year later, Missy and Robert were married. Robert had an accident that would prevent him from ever having children when he was younger, and after discussing it in great length, they asked Brenda if she wanted them to raise her daughter as their own? Since Brenda was a struggling single mother, and Robert was already a successful sales man, the three of them decided it would be best. Brenda had some scholarships that were still good, so she decided to take advantage of the opportunity and go to university. She had the jeweller make up the pendant, and we made a promise to give it to you when you turned thirteen. She was to come back a couple years ago, but had to finish her studies overseas, so we decided to wait.”
Brenda looked at Jessica with tears streaming down her face, “I saw you and your friends at the old mill when I was going by to see if it was still standing. I followed you then, not knowing if it was you, since I hadn’t seen a recent photo of you. I saw you again when I went to see how Dorothy was coming along with getting the archives together for me. It wasn’t until you sat down in my class and I read your name that I was positive who you were. I wanted to tell you right away, but Missy and I had already decided to tell you during this diner, and I didn’t want to mess up the plans.“
Jessica was overwhelmed. She was angry that Brenda and her mom kept this from her for the last week, but also extremely happy that she knew who her biological mother was. The happiness overcame the anger as the three of them continued the discussion.
After about twenty minutes, Brenda asked Jessica, “Can I hug you now?” Jessica jumped up from her seat and ran around the table. Just as Brenda was standing up she threw her arms around her. Tears started streaming down her face as Brenda whispered to Jessica, “I’ve waited fifteen years to hold you in my arms again. I love you so much, I never stopped.” Jessica was fighting back the tears, “I never thought I’d really see you. I would dream of you coming back for me one day, but never thought it would really happen.” Brenda told Jessica that when she placed the necklace on the table, it was the first time she had removed it in fifteen years. Jessica looked at the necklace and them up at Missy. She went over to Missy and hugged her. “You’re the best mother anyone child could have. I love you so much.”
As the group sat back down at the table, Brenda put her necklace back on. She slid Jessica’s over to her and she put her necklace on as well. Jessica looked at Missy and Brenda, “So what happens now?” Missy smiled at her, “Nothing unless you want it to. We were always honest with you about you being adopted, and we swore to love you as our own for the rest of our lives. We plan to keep that promise.”
Jessica looked over at Brenda. As she wiped another tear from her eye, Brenda told Jessica, “I’m a stranger to you. Although I’ve often dreamed about what you were like over the years, I have no desire to cause any interference in your lives. I will always be eternally grateful to Missy and Robert for the great job they did raising you, and for keeping me informed of how you were doing growing up. I will be here for you if you want me, but I will never try to replace your mother. Missy is a wonderful friend, and I feel blessed to be a part of your lives.”
Jessica looked at both of them, “So nothing changes? I still have the family I grew up with, and a new friend who I can turn to if I need to?” Brenda smiled, “Exactly. I am not here to cause any disruptions in your life. I am here keeping a promise, that I would return one day.”
As the Missy and Brenda spent the next hour answering all Jessica’s questions, it became quite clear to everyone that everything was back to normal, at least as back to normal as it could get. The only thing that is changing is Jessica wanted to spend a bit more time at Brenda’s getting to know her better. Brenda and Missy were very happy with how it all turned out, and both agreed that getting to know a bit more of her biological family history definitely wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Jessica was starting to feel tired as the adrenalin was leaving her body. Since the next day was an in-service day, she was supposed to meet up with her friends. She wondered if the three of them could meet up for diner again tomorrow. Brenda and Missy both thought it’d be great, as neither of them had any plans. Jessica hugged and kissed Missy, saying “Good night mom” and then walked over to Brenda and hugged and kissed her, saying “Good night mom”, then she paused, “That was a bit weird. What do I call you now?” Brenda smiled, “Brenda will do just fine. Because I’m back in your life doesn’t mean anything needs to change.” Jessica smiled, “Good night, Brenda.” As Jessica went up to bed, the two ladies poured a glass of wine and sat down in the living room to discuss how everything went that evening.