Chapter 15 - THE MORNING EVERYTHING CAME FULL CIRCLE
The following Monday, Morgan returned to Chicago for a work meeting.
Afterward, she boarded a CTA bus.
It was crowded.
Office workers stood shoulder to shoulder.
Students balanced backpacks between their feet.
A tired mother held a sleeping toddler against her chest.
Morgan found a seat near the middle.
She opened her bag and took out a folder of documents.
Then, at the next stop, an elderly woman climbed aboard.
She had white hair, a brown cardigan, and a small grocery bag.
Morgan immediately stood.
"Ma'am, would you like my seat?"
The woman smiled gratefully.
"Oh, thank you, sweetheart."
Morgan stepped aside.
The woman settled into the seat and looked up.
"That's a beautiful necklace."
Morgan touched the silver apple blossom.
"Thank you. It was a gift from someone very special."
The woman nodded.
"Those are the best kind."
Morgan smiled.
"Yes, they are."
For a moment, she remembered another elderly woman.
A gray trench coat.
A green beret.
The faint scent of lavender.
A whispered warning that had sounded impossible.
She remembered the cloudy blue water.
The tiny black object.
The documents she hadn't signed.
The fear of realizing that the person sleeping beside her was not the person she thought she knew.
Then she remembered everything that followed.
The friends who helped.
The cottage that remained hers.
The orchard full of laughter.
Rebecca's Porch.
Eleanor.
Daniel.
And the woman she had slowly become.
The bus rolled past familiar Chicago streets.
Morgan looked out the window.
She no longer thought of herself as the woman who had almost lost everything.
She thought of herself as someone who had learned that starting over could be beautiful.
Her phone vibrated.
A message from Daniel.
Made it home safely. The porch light is on, and there's apple pie waiting whenever you get back.
Morgan smiled.
May you like
She typed:
Save me a slice.
