Felicity led Clare to her car, which was parked down the street from the park. Felicity opened the back door of the car and pulled out a first aid kit. She set in on the top of the car and opened it. She pulled out packaged items from the kit and set them on to of the car as well. When she found what she was looking for, she smiled and turned around to face Clare. Clare stood behind her with Rose standing next to her.
Felicity waved a package that read "bandages" back and forth. "Luckily I still have some left. All my grandchildren seem to be clumsy." She laughed and flashed a small smile towards Rose, who in return smirked.
Clare opened her hands, palm upwards, and walked forward towards Felicity. Felicity tore off the wrapping of the bandage. To Clare's surprise, it was a long white bandage, not the small tan ones she was expecting. Felicity ripped the bandage into two pieces and then wrapped Clare's right hand with half of it.
"Rosie, could you get me a piece of medial tape?" Felicity asked pointing to the roll of tape that rested on the top of the car. Rose nodded her head and reached for the tape. She ripped a piece of tape off and handed it the Felicity. Felicity then tapped the bandage down and moved on to wrap Clare's other hand with the bandage.
When she finish Felicity cleaned off the top of the car and put the contents back into the first aid kit tin. She tossed the tin into the car and placed her bag and camera next to it. She pulled her wallet out from the bag and shut the door.
"You two ready for some hot chocolate and muffins?" She asked. The two girls nodded their heads and smiled.
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The café that Felicity led Clare to was the same café Eli had pointed out to her earlier. It was small and warm. The walls were painted a dark maroon color and the tables and chairs were made of dark maple. There were only a few people in there at the moment. A young man sat in the corner of the café with a book in his hand and a coffee cup resting on the table. A teenage couple held hands across the table as they talked and laughed. Next to the teenagers was an older couple. The woman was ripping a bagel into small pieces and placing them in front of a small child that was sitting on the man's lap. The child would pick up a piece of the bagel and pop it into her mouth, then pick up another piece and feed it to her father.
The child reminded her of her mother. She wondered how the meeting with the adoption agency was going. She hoped it was going well, she prayed it was going well. Her thoughts were cut short when she heard Felicity ask her what kind of muffin she wanted. She hadn't been paying attention so she panicked. She quickly scanned the row of muffins that were placed in a glass case in front of the register.
"Pick the Double Chocolate Chunk one, they're awesome." Eli said from behind her
Clare had almost forgotten that Eli was with her. She told Felicity that she wanted the Double Chocolate Chunk one then walked over to Rose who was waiting of their hot chocolates.
After Felicity paid for the muffins and hot chocolates, the three of them walked over to a corner of the café and sat down.
"Thank you again, for everything. You really didn't have to…" Clare said as she wrapped her hands around her cup, warming up her freezing fingers.
Felicity took a sip of her hot chocolate and set it down. She reached across the small table and patted Clare's wrist. "It's know big deal, sweetie."
Clare smiled and nodded her head. She ripped off a piece off the muffin that was in front of her and placed it in her mouth. The chocolate chips melted on her tongue. Clare closed her eyes and enjoyed the chocolately taste of the muffin.
Note to self: Thank Eli for the amazing muffin choice Clare thought.
"So Clare, did you just move here? Because I've never seen you around before." Rose asked.
Clare nodded her head. "Yes actually, my mom and I just moved here. We uh, we moved into Goldsworthy Manor." Clare quickly took a glance at Felicity to see what her reaction would be. She didn't seem fazed by the new information.
Felicity smiled. "You know before I was a Jacobs, I was a Goldsworthy." She said.
Clare acted surprised "Really? You mean you lived there, Goldsworthy Manor?"
Felicity nodded her head. "Indeed, my parents, my brothers and sister and I, we all lived there, so some time. About 17 years I think."
"It's a really beautiful house. It's so big, I haven't even been in all the rooms yet and we moved it about a week and a half ago!" Clare laughed.
"It is rather big; I haven't been there in so long…What room did you pick to be your bedroom?" Felicity asked; bring her cup back up to her lips and taking a sip.
Clare bit her lip. She didn't know if she should tell her that she picked Eli's old room. She didn't know how sore of a subject Eli's death was, and she didn't want to make her upset.
"You don't have to be afraid to talk to her about me, Clare. Felicity's a strong person." Eli said to her. He gave her a small smile. Clare gave him a small, quick smile back, making sure neither Rose nor Felicity saw her. She didn't know how Eli knew what she was thinking, but she was grateful for his advice none the less.
"The room all the way at the end of the hallway, on the right." Clare said.
Felicity smiled. "That room is the smallest one in the house; you didn't want a bigger one?"
Clare shifted in her seat. "Well, the other rooms are nice and all, but that one, it just I don't know spoke to me. I know that sounds cheesy and cliché, but it's true. The first time I saw it, I knew it was going to be my room. It just had the welcoming feeling that just pulled me in. It's small, but inviting."
Felicity shook her head and laughed.
Clare looked down and blushed. "I-I tend to ramble on sometimes."
Felicity reached across the table and placed her hand on Clare's "Oh sweetie, I wasn't laughing about that it's just…" Felicity paused for a moment, bringing her hand back over to her side of the table. "You sounded exactly like my younger brother just then. He loved his room, it was the only place he felt safe. I'm glad it makes you happy too."
Clare bit her lip again; she ran her fingertip around the rim of the cup. "I-I found something, in the room. I think you might what to see it. It's a journal."
"Clare!"
Clare jumped in her seat. She didn't expect Eli to yell at her like that. She glanced over at Eli, who was standing next to her. He looked scared and worried.
"A-a journal?" Felicity asked. She leaned forward in her seat, her fore arms resting on the table.
Clare nodded her head. "Yes, it was Elijah's…"
Felicity stared at her moment, taking it what she just told her.
"I could give it you, if you want. You could read it." Clare said.
"No! Clare, I- God damn." Eli said, He ran his fingers through his hair and pulled at the roots.
"Maybe, I don't know if I could…handle it. But maybe sometime. Keep good care of it, okay? Don't let anyone, take it." Felicity said.
Clare nodded her head. "Never."
The small bell on the door of the café rang, signaling the entrance of another customer. Clare looked at the door to see who had walked in. To her surprise, it was her mother.
"Mom." Clare said waving in the direction of her mother. Helen looked up from her phone that was in her hands and looked in the direction of Clare's voice. When she saw her she smiled and shoved her phone into her pocket. She walked over to the table.
"Hey there honey and…" Helen trailed off, looking at the other two girls at the table.
Felicity stood up at offered Helen a hand to shake. "Felicity Jacobs" Helen shook her hand and smiled. "Helen Edwards" She replied.
Rose gave Helen a small wave. "I'm Rose."
Helen gave to a small nod. "It's nice to meet you both."
"I uh went for a walk in the park, and being as graceful as I usually am, I fell and bruised my hands. Felicity and Rose were nice enough to clean me up and buy me something to eat and drink." Clare explained to her mother.
Helen placed her hands on Clare's shoulders and gave them a small squeeze. "Well that you to so much. Really, I appreciate it; Clare here can be a handful sometimes."
"Oh I was nothing." Felicity replied.
"And Clare, good news. The adoption agency accepted me!" Helen looked down at her daughter, a smile spread across her face.
Clare looked up smiled back. "That's amazing mom!"
Felicity moved her coat over and patted the seat next to her. "Come, sit down."
"Okay." Helen took off her jacket and sat down next to Felicity.
"So Clare just told me that the two of you moved into my old house." Felicity smiled.
"You're Felicity Goldsworthy. Oh my, I saw one of your waterfall photos in a magazine once, and I fell in love with your work." Helen gushed.
Rose leaned over the table and whispered into Clare's ear "Oh God, this is a start of a very long night."
Clare giggled and took another sip of her hot chocolate.
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When Clare and Helen finally got home from the café, Clare ran up to her room and shut the door behind her. Eli walked through the door after her, he looked slightly upset.
"Are you okay, I-I'm sorry that I told Felicity about your journal, I didn't know that you didn't want her to know about it." Clare mumbled hopelessly.
Eli shook his head. "It's okay Clare, its fine. There are just some things in there that…well that I regret ever writing."
Clare picked up the leather book from her nightstand and ran her fingers down the cover. "What do you mean?"
"I- I was just angry one day, and I wrote some stuff about Felicity, that I didn't mean." Eli whispered.
Clare opened the notebook and flipped through the pages, wondering what page the words of hate were on.
"It's the May 12th 1955 entry, if you want to read it."