I stared at the creased photo once I returned to the car from Mia"s. After she had finished getting ready, unsurprisingly, she had received a "phone call" and "something had come up". I didn"t think we would actually go to brunch, but my stomach rumbled in anger. I leaned forward and lowered the part.i.tion between the backseat and the driver."Take me to the restaurant. My guest won"t be coming."
"Yes madam." The driver nodded and pulled away from Mia"s condo towards the city. I leaned back and raised the part.i.tion again.
Looking more closely at the photograph, I could see my large engagement ring on my finger. It had been taken in the past year. I struggled to remember the time before my reincarnated lives. The vacations I had taken prior to my marriage had mostly been with my family, but if I was with Julian on this vacation, it must have been a vacation arranged by the Leonharts. Mia"s presence was either because she was there to accompany me, or because her father had been invited as an executive.
It was unlikely any of my family members were there on the vacation itself, but my mother might remember what trips I had taken.
I pulled my phone from my purse and dialed the familiar phone number. My mother had been a housewife for her entire life, so I knew she would pick up. After a few rings, her soothing voice came through the speaker.
"Hi sweetie."
"Hi mom, how are you?"
I felt my shoulders relax as my mother started complaining about her aching body and my father"s laziness. The same complaints she always gave, no matter the lifetime. I used to get annoyed when I called my mother, but now I knew it was her way of venting. I patiently listening to her for a few moments before she let out a small gasp of embarra.s.sment.
"Oh, I"m sorry. What did you call about?"
I let out a laugh. "I just wanted to check on you. And I had a weird question."
"What is it, honey?"
"Do you remember that beach trip I took with Mia and Julian?"
"The one to Hawaii?"
I had been to Hawaii? "Yes, do you have any pictures from that trip?"
My mother sighed. "Alice, you deleted all the pictures from that trip, remember? You said you didn"t ever want to see reminders of it again. You even made your father and I keep the souvenirs you got us hidden away."
It took me a second to remember to respond. "O-Oh, right. Sorry. I just found a picture and couldn"t remember where the rest went." My head was swimming.
"You really did forget on purpose! Silly child."
I talked to my mother for a bit longer before hanging up the phone. I had "forgotten on purpose"? What kind of nonsense was that? I felt like I"d hit a dead end. But if I gave up that easily, I wouldn"t learn anything, would I?
I dreaded it, but maybe I would have to ask Julian directly.
As I stepped out of the car after arriving home from my solitary brunch, Moxie came running up to the open car door. I tried to surpress my yelp of surprise as she barked joyfully at me. She stood patiently at the open door waiting for me to exit the car, her tail wagging furiously.
I hesitantly got out of the car, but Moxie didn"t jump on me as I feared she might.
"G-good girl." I reached out my hand and gently patted her head. She didn"t move away and seemed pleased with my attention.
I was making progress!
Moxie perked her ears and turned around, letting out a single loud bark. I couldn"t help it that I jumped, but I heard some laughter from up the drive.
I looked up and saw David running over to us to retrieve Moxie. He was laughing at my fear even more openly than Julian had the day before. I tried to compose myself as best I could.
"Did she scare you?" he asked, panting slightly.
"Her bark was just loud." It wasn"t a lie!
He let out a snicker, but tried to hide it. "I"m David, Ileana"s son."
I nodded my head in greeting. "My name"s Alice."
"Yeah, I know. Julian"s new wife." David grabbed Moxie"s collar and started dragging her away. "I have to go walk her, but I"ll see you later."
And just as quickly as he had arrived, he was gone. David only stopped by sometimes to take care of Moxie. He was a student a little younger than me and even though I was ignored by most everyone in Julian"s household, David had always politely greeted me when we pa.s.sed each other. Of course, in my past lives, I mostly avoided him since wherever he went, Moxie followed if Julian wasn"t around.
Since David was walking Moxie, that meant Julian hadn"t returned from his business trip yet. I decided I might question Ileana in case she knew of any photo alb.u.ms Julian kept tucked away, though I doubted any existed.
I found Ileana in the back garden, cutting fresh flowers for the dining room centerpiece. She turned to glance at me as I approached.
"What can I do for you Alice?"
"h.e.l.lo Ileana," I gave her my best smile. "I was wondering... does Julian keep any photo alb.u.ms?"
Ileana didn"t respond right away as she cut a few more flowers, but I knew she wasn"t ignoring me. She was probably searching for a memory of any photo alb.u.ms.
She straightened up. "I don"t believe so. If anyone had photo alb.u.ms of his pictures, it would be his mother."
I tried to hide my disappointment. There was no way I was getting ahold of photo alb.u.ms from Julian"s mother. If there was someone who hated me more in all my lives than Mia, it might possibly be her. She had never understood why her favorite son was forced to marry a "unrefined, dull girl" like me.
"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Ileana must have seen my face fall because she asked with a worried expression.
"No, that"s alright. Thank you, Ileana."