Chapter 23

I headed to the bakery to tell Mallory and Linda goodbye. It was a bittersweet moment. I was happy that they were so supportive though I was going to miss them. We gave lots of hugs and I grabbed two cinnamon rolls and my cappuccino and headed out to meet Eric.

I arrived at the boy's home around 11:30, Eric had decided we would take his truck and I would leave my car at their place. He still hadn't been specific about where we would be going yet all he said was it was a piece of my past. As I pulled up, I saw Eric loading up his bags in the back of his Dodge. I pulled up alongside him and started to gather my bags. Eric helped me load my things into his truck and as soon as we finished, we said a quick bye to Jayden, got in the truck and headed out on our journey.

 We had been driving for close to two hours when Eric turned to me. 

"Hey, do you wanna stop and grab a bite to eat? Theres a little café and bakery just up ahead we can get out and grab a bite to eat and stretch our legs a little."

"That sounds amazing to me. I am starving! I've only had that one cinnamon roll all day. And I could really use a break to stretch my legs."

Eric laughed a little "alright let's stop."

A few short minutes later we pulled up to The Paisley Loon for lunch. We both ordered sandwiches and I got myself an iced caramel coffee that tasted amazing! We got a few baked items to go as well. 

We got back in his truck and resumed our journey. 

"How much longer? Are we there yet?"

Eric laughed at me. "Oh, Perri there are some things about you that haven't changed."

"What do you mean?"

"You never liked the long drive when we were little. You would drive us all crazy asking all the time, 'are we there yet?' 'How much longer?' 'Mom, can we stop for a break?' 'I need to pee.' Although most of the time you never had to pee it was always an excuse just to stop so you could get out for a few minutes." 

"Really? Was I an annoying child?"

"Well, you got on the adults' nerves once in a while and you liked to pick on Colton a lot."

"What about you? Did I ever annoy the crap out of you?"

"Maybe now and again, but you would mostly come to me after annoying everyone else. Then you would cry and complain that everyone told you to go away."

"And you would play with me then?"

Eric laughed "sometimes we would go off together right away but if it was Colton who made you upset, I usually had to stand up for you by hitting or pushing him. I would always tell him 'Colton you never make a girl cry. Especially Chrissy, you know she's my best friend!' And of course, he would go crying to mom and I would sometimes get in trouble. Not always though, Mom would often tell me to leave him alone, but she was proud of me for standing up for my friend. I always looked out for you Periwinkle and I always will."

"Thank you, Eric, sometimes when we are talking about when we were kids, I feel like I can see what you are saying. I just get confused about what is my imagination and what are memories. I'm hoping this trip works and I get things in my brain all figured out. Right now, it feels like a bunch of puzzle pieces swimming around in my brain and I can't find where the pieces fit."

Eric reached over and held my hand. "We will piece them together Perri. I promise."

I smiled at him, truly thankful for his friendship. "Why did your mom have to cancel tonight?"

"She got called into an important meeting but if you are ok with it, she may come here to visit us."

"Well, I've already committed myself to meeting her, so I guess it really doesn't matter."

"Alright then I will call her this evening when I know she is home and set up a day she is available to come. Well, here's our stop."

Eric pulled into the parking lot of the Hannaford grocery store. As we got out and headed inside, I grabbed the cart with the intention of following him around as I had no idea what exactly we were here for or where anything was in this store.

"So, what exactly are we looking for here?"

"We need to stock up on some groceries. I'd say for at least two weeks."

"Two weeks? We aren't going to have access to a grocery store for two weeks?"

"Yep! Sometimes we pack ahead for a whole month at a time. But I figure we can make a trip back here in two weeks."

"Dang, so what types of stores and restaurants will we be near?"

"None."

"None? For two weeks we will have access to nothing?"

"That's right so stock up now. What are some of your favorite meals to have?"

"Jeez I don't know I wasn't expecting this."

"Ok let's just wander around for a while and anything that sounds good or looks good we will just add to the cart. I'm buying this round."

"Ok then I'm buying for the next two, deal?" I stuck out my hand for him to shake.

"Deal" he took my hand and shook it. We held our hands together then kissed our thumbs sealing our deal. It just came naturally I didn't even think about it until after it happened. Eric leaned towards me and kissed me on the cheek then started walking again. 

We finished our shopping, got back in the truck, and started driving again. We were only on the road for about a half hour when we parked by a dock. There was a boat waiting there for us. We gathered our bags and all our groceries and loaded everything into the boat. 

"So, Eric, now that I have spent an entire afternoon sitting in a car how long are we going to be in the boat for? Although I gotta say I don't remember the last time I was on a boat. It is so beautiful out here."

"Well, we won't be on this boat for too long. We will arrive at our destination in about 10 minutes. But while we are here, we can always rent a boat and sail around the island."

"Island?"

"Yep! We are staying on an island but that's not the surprise wait til you see what we will be staying in. That's your surprise."

We road the boat in silence enjoying the view of the ocean around me. I could see the island up ahead. I was anxious and a little nervous about what I would find once we reached land. Not much further and we approached the dock. We gathered all our belongings and started hiking through the woods. 

I could see a white building up ahead but couldn't quit make out the structure. As I came through to the clearing I paused I couldn't walk forward. Standing tall in front of me was the lighthouse from my drawings.

"Welcome to Little River Lighthouse! I'm Terry, the keeper of the lighthouse. Please follow me and I will show you to your rooms."

I felt like my legs were made out of jelly. Here all this time I thought it was my wild imagination. That's what my mom had always told me anyway. Now I was questioning everything. I motioned for Eric to go ahead and take our things inside because I needed a moment to let it all sink in.

As I rounded to the front of the lighthouse, I saw the beautiful red Trillium flowers in the front. That was where I would help my mom in the summers. Not Victoria or Veronica or whatever her name was. My mom! And all the hiding spots from years of playing hide and seek with the boys. I couldn't tell from the few photos I had but I remember now. This was where I celebrated my last birthday with my family. Right there on the bench was where Eric gave me my locket. 

I sank to my knees and cried. I cried for my memories that she had tried to erase. I cried for the family I couldn't quite remember. I cried, for all the time I lost with Eric. And I cried, for myself and all the lost time I could never have back. How did I trust her so completely that I forgot the best parts of growing up.

Eric came out a few moments later. As soon as he saw me, he came running and held me close as I continued to cry.

"What happened Perri? Please tell me?"

I could tell he was worried I had been hurt or something, but I couldn't catch my breath long enough to explain.

After a few more moments I finally calmed down enough to speak.

"I remember Eric! I remember a lot. She would always tell me it was my imagination, nothing like that ever happened. But it was true! All of it! Why? Why did she take me away?" I looked at him waiting to see if he had any answers. He had a sad look on his face and a tear escaped from the corner of his eye.

"I don't know Perri. I really wish I had the answer, but I don't. We will find out why though. I promise."

I don't know how long it was that we just sat there, him holding me. The tears had stopped but I wasn't ready to get up and go inside just yet. I wasn't sure if more memories would assault my mind and to be honest, I wasn't sure if I was ready for more just yet. So we just sat there until the sun started to set.