Gracie ran in, crying out for Mommy. She ran from the kitchen to the living room to the master bedroom. She looked in the bathroom and living room. She went outside. “Mommy! Where are you? Mommy!” Confused, raw, terrified, she raced back inside, where Aunt Elizabeth stood like a statue. “Mommy!” Gracie screamed, sobbing now. Why didn’t Mommy answer? Why didn’t she come?
Aunt Elizabeth took her firmly by the hand and brought her back into the living room. Gracie noticed Daddy’s chair wasn’t there anymore. A big square of carpet had been cut out where it had sat. Aunt Elizabeth sat on the sofa and held Gracie by the arms. “Look at me, Grace. Your mother is dead. So is your father. Do you understand what that means? They’re not here.” She pressed her lips together and looked away. Blinking back tears, she swallowed and looked at Gracie again. “We’re only staying for as long as it takes me to clear out the house and put it on the market. I have to get back to work. So you’re coming with me to Fresno. That’s in California, in case you didn’t know.”
“I don’t want to go.”
“That’s too bad, because what you want doesn’t matter. You get what life has handed you, thanks to your son of—” She stopped and shook her head. “I know it’s not what you want. It’s not what I want either. But we’re stuck with each other. Your mother wrote it in a will.” She looked angry. “That tells you something about her situation, doesn’t it?” Her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides. She looked out the window and gave a heavy sigh. When she looked at Gracie again, her eyes were cold, but not angry anymore. “From now on, you’ll do as I say. I’m not your mother, but she made me your guardian. I’ll do the best I can for you. Now, go to your room and take a nap while I get some work done.”
Gracie finally saw Mommy again. Aunt Elizabeth took her to a big building that had a small room with pretty colored-glass windows. Mommy was lying asleep in a wooden box with shiny white satin. Her hands were folded around a bouquet of pink roses. She looked different. “Mommy?”
“Go ahead.” Aunt Elizabeth stood beside her. “Touch her. Maybe that’s the only way you’ll understand.”
Gracie patted Mommy’s hand lightly. Her skin was cold and felt strange. “Wake up.” Gracie looked from Mommy to Aunt Elizabeth and back to Mommy. “Mommy doesn’t wear makeup. Daddy doesn’t like it.”
“She’s not there, Grace. Her soul has gone to heaven.”
“Is Daddy in heaven, too?”
Aunt Elizabeth gave a snort. “I had him cremated.” She spoke through tight lips in a low voice. “It seemed a fitting end for him.”
The pastor introduced himself to Aunt Elizabeth. A few others from church had come to pay their respects. Mommy had only just begun attending church and taking Gracie to Sunday school. Not many people knew her. The pastor seemed sorry about that. “She seemed such a tender soul.”
A big black car took Mommy’s box to a park with a high arch entry and open iron gates. Aunt Elizabeth parked her car and sat silent in the front seat. Eyes closed, she gripped the steering wheel with white hands. When she got out of the car, she came around for Gracie. Taking her by the hand, she led her across the grass to a big hole in the ground, Mommy’s box above. The pastor talked about dust and ashes. Her aunt’s hand trembled and tightened until Gracie cried. She let go abruptly, and crossed her arms. The pastor prayed, and Mommy’s box lowered into the ground. Aunt Elizabeth leaned down, took a handful of dirt, and sprinkled it on Mommy’s box. “Your trials are over, Leelee. Rest in peace.” She looked down at Gracie. “Say good-bye to your mother.”
That night, Aunt Elizabeth packed Gracie’s things in a suitcase. She snatched Grace’s stuffed bear from her arms. “You’re too old for this!” Aunt Elizabeth took it outside and threw it in the trash can.
The next morning, they drove to a big airport. Aunt Elizabeth lifted her suitcase and Gracie’s from the trunk. Gracie heard a loud roar and looked up at an airplane overhead. It rose like a giant bird into the sky. Her aunt told her to stay close and keep up. Gracie had never been around so many people and stayed on Aunt Elizabeth’s heels. They waited in a long line where everyone had suitcases. When they reached the counter, Aunt Elizabeth talked to the clerk. A man tagged their luggage and placed it on a moving belt.
Gracie had so many questions, but Aunt Elizabeth looked tense and agitated. She walked fast, and Gracie had to struggle to keep up. They sat in a waiting area until it was time to stand in another line and get on an airplane. Inside, people shoved small suitcases and tote bags and packages into the overhead compartments before sliding into their seats. Aunt Elizabeth led Gracie all the way to the back of the plane and told her to sit by the window. She gave a weary sigh when she took the seat beside Gracie. “Try to sleep. That’s what I plan to do. We have two more flights after this one. It’s going to be a very long day. Don’t wake me up unless you have to go potty.” She jerked her head toward the back. “The lavatory is right behind us.”
Gracie forgot about everything when the plane roared down the runway. At first, she felt the sluggish pull of earth; then the plane rose, heavy and then growing lighter the higher it went. She looked down and wondered at how cars and houses got smaller, and then the plane went into the clouds. It kept going up and up. Gracie prayed they would go to heaven to see Mommy and Jesus.
YOSEMITE HELD an awe-inspiring beauty with its hanging valleys, waterfalls, giant granite domes, and moraines, but Roman couldn’t keep his eyes off Grace. She was clearly enjoying herself, and it shone in her face.
“If I had your talent, Roman, I’d be painting this.” She spread her arms, encompassing the valley in front of them.
“And get nowhere. It’s been done a thousand times.” He pocketed his phone and joined her.
She looked at him. “What were you doing? Texting a girlfriend?”
“I don’t have a girlfriend.” He smiled slightly. “Not the kind you mean, anyway.”
“Then why do you always have that thing in your hand? You’re missing everything!”
He’d seen it before, but saw it differently this time. “Half Dome is pretty spectacular. I wouldn’t mind climbing that rock someday.”
“You’d need a lot of mountain-climbing experience.”
“I used to climb tall buildings.”
“Okay, Superman.”
He liked her smile. “They weren’t that tall. Five or six stories.” He looked up at Half Dome. “I wanted to do heaven spots. The higher, the better.” He glanced at her. “Earn street cred.” She didn’t understand a word he said, and he wasn’t ready to explain. “Never mind. Why don’t we get back on the road and cover some more ground before we call it a day?”
She gazed at Half Dome. “What a pity.”
“You’re the one who has to be back by Friday.”
“Yes. I do. Can you wait one minute?” She walked over to the stream and picked out a small stone.
“What’re you going to do with that?”
“Remember Yosemite.”
They were well on their way when Grace asked him to pull over. She just wanted a few minutes to see a cirque lake. Roman followed her to the edge. Grace stood looking up at the mountain and the mirror image on the surface of the water. “It’s like an oval mirror. It doubles the beauty.”
It was a magnificent scene. “I’d never attempt to paint this. I couldn’t come close to what we’re seeing.”
She faced him. “No one could.”
“Some come close.”
“Isn’t art all about interpretation?”
“Partly.” He sat on a boulder.
She looked back at the lake. “I should’ve bought postcards.” She took out her phone and took a few pictures, then came over and sat beside him. “Tell me about your paintings. I don’t understand them, you know. The mural, yes. The great migration, and it’s beautiful. Your other work baffles me.”
Leaning forward, he rested his forearms on his knees. “They’re people I’ve known, exposed, but disguised so no one can recognize them.” He gave a rueful laugh. “By the time I’m done painting, I don’t even know who they are.”