A few minutes later, the women heard the sound of Jim’s Silverado pulling into the driveway.
As he walked up the steps, he could hear laughter from inside. He smiled. Laughter was something there had been very little of in the past few days.
Late the following evening Beth told Sandi and Joletta she must leave soon for her motel. Her flight home was scheduled for 6:00 the next morning.
“Oh, Beth, no! You can’t leave so soon! We have had hardly any time at all! We still have so many things to talk about. All this time, and I know so little! Please, can’t you just stay a few days?”
Beth reached for her sister’s hand. “I wish I could. I only have a week. I have to be back at work on Thursday, and I was actually lucky to get this time off. Also, I talked to Darrel this afternoon; he sounded pretty lost.” Taking her sister’s hand, she said, “I promise, though, I’ll call, and we can write to each other. I want you to meet Darrel and the boys. They are not going to give me a minute’s peace until they get a chance to come and see you.”
It was hard letting her sister go, but Sandi knew there was no other choice. Sandi knew her younger sister had to be just as anxious to get home to her husband as he was to have her home again. There would be more visits with her sister. She just wished this one could last longer! Once again, they hugged, cried, and then reluctantly moved away from each other. Beth waved as she got in the waiting cab; it had been a long day for everyone.
Joletta sat down on the couch beside her mom, who looked exhausted. “Are you OK, Mom?”
“Sure honey. It’s been quite a day, hasn’t it? We all need to be thinking about getting to bed. I will have to work tomorrow. What do you think of your Aunt Beth?”
“Oh, Mom, I think she’s beautiful. Do you think that she really will bring Tyler and Jacob to see us? I think that would be so cool.”
“I’m sure of it, Honey. Now if you don’t mind too much, I believe I’ll turn in. I have some things I need to think over and Jim will be calling soon. In all the excitement, I forgot to ask him what time he planned to pick you girls up. I need to know if Joan should come over for a couple of hours or if he can get away from work by noon. It won’t hurt your feelings, will it, Sweetheart?”
“No, it won’t hurt my feelings. Mom,” Joletta paused, ”I’m really sorry about your mom. I never thought much about my grandmother, but now it seems sad that we never saw her.”
“Oh, Jo, it is sad, Darling. She missed so much. I wish things could have turned out another way, but sometimes we just have to take what life gives us.” Sandi’s voice caught, and she cleared her throat. “I don’t know. Maybe if I had stayed, things would have changed. But at the time, I didn’t know what else to do. I really don’t know why she felt the way she did. I guess she blamed me because Daddy left us, but I never knew what it was I did.” She reached out and gave the girl a tight hug.
“You were just a little girl when your daddy left, weren’t you? I don’t know how it could have been your fault.”
“Thank-you, Sweetheart, but I guess we won’t ever know now. I’m just sorry that she never got to watch you grow up. You need to get on to bed now, Sweetie, so you’ll be rested for tomorrow. I should be home from work at around 8:30. We’ll talk more about everything then. OK? I love you, Sweetheart. I’ll see you in the morning.” Joletta yawned and smiled as Sandi turned to go into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.
Later as Joletta lay in her bed, she thought of the events of the last two days. She had liked her mother’s sister and couldn’t help but wonder about her uncles. Also, even more than that, she wondered about the letter from Joe, the man that was her father. She had not dared to ask her mother about it, although she imagined by now her mom had read it. She wondered, What did the letter say? Perhaps he wanted to come and take her from Sandi, or maybe he would tell her about a family he had that no one knew anything about. She might even have brothers and sisters she didn’t know. Joletta wondered if she would ever get to sleep. She wondered, Was he rich? Did he live in a big house or a small house? Was he a good man or maybe a drunk, or even worse someone who would hurt little children? So very many things she thought about that night before she drifted off to sleep. Several hours later, in the deep of the night, Joletta woke. She had been dreaming about her father again. Recently, the dreams had not been happening as frequently as in the past, but they were always quite upsetting. They seemed so real, and it would take her several minutes to realize that once again, it was only a dream.
Her mother and Jim had been there in this dream, and as she thought about it, she remembered that Susan and all of Joletta’s friends were there also. Goodbye, everyone! She was saying. There was a tall, handsome man standing next to her, leading her away. She could not remember where he was taking her, just away. Away from her family, away from her friends, away from the life she knew and the home she had come to cherish so much. No! her mind said, I can’t go with you! I don’t have a home! Wait! She pulled her hand away from the man and started running. I can’t go. I can’t leave my mom! She needs me, and Annie needs me too. I’m so sorry! Joletta was running back, back to the family she knew and loved, back to the ones she knew loved and needed her.
Joletta slowly came awake. What did it all mean? Sleepily she tried to recall what else had been in the dream, but it had already become a blur and was no longer clear. Maybe we don’t have a home, she thought, but we do have a place to stay, and people that love us. I will never let anyone take that away from me.
Perhaps it didn’t really matter what the letter from the man called Joe said. Joletta was beginning to realize that no matter what it said, there were people in her life that would care for her and love her always. Somehow, this dream felt different, and she was strangely comforted. She curled up hugging her old teddy to her heart and was soon back to sleep.