Full Circle by Mona Ingram Page B

laugh. “There’ll be another one within a year.”
    Her mother’s
eyes lit up. “Where?”
    Bella was
having trouble talking; her mother wouldn’t be here to see it, and they both
knew it. “I’m leaving that up to Rafael, but it will be either Seattle or
Dallas. What do you think?”
    A small smile
played around her mother’s lips. “Dallas. Definitely Dallas.” Her gaze came to
rest on Melissa. “She reminds me of you at that age.”
    “Really?”
    “Oh yes. You
always knew what you wanted, and you weren’t afraid to say so.” Her eyes took
on a faraway look. “Do you remember how you used to like only the green
Popsicles? Your father and I were remembering that the other day. He remembered
how he’d walk you down to the corner store, and how you’d make such a fuss if
there were no green ones.” She took several deep inhalations of oxygen. “Do
kids still like Popsicles?”
    “Are you
kidding? Melissa loves them.”
    Shirley
pressed a button and Bella’s father came into the room. “Ron, would you take
Melissa down to the corner store? I think she’d like a Popsicle.”
    Melissa
looked up, caught her mother’s eye, rose and slipped her hand into her
grandfather’s.
    When they’d
left, Bella’s mother sighed. “That wasn’t very subtle, was it?”
    Bella smiled.
“It’s okay.”
    Her mother
folded back the sheet, smoothing it out with restless hands. When she finally
spoke, Bella had to lean closer to hear.
    “I’m sorry,
Bella. I was wrong to make you leave.”
    Bella looked
deeply into her mother’s eyes. “It’s okay Mom. Truly.” She’d been holding
herself tense, unsure of what would happen next, but at these words she
relaxed. “I’ve had two amazingly supportive friends in my life; first Carla,
and then, in California, Sofia.” She proceeded to tell her mother about Sofia
and Valeria. Her mother’s eyes glowed as Bella described their first tentative
steps to establish their business.
    “I read about
that in some of the clippings” she said, gesturing toward the scrap books. “How
you started out selling at a beach market, but it’s nice to hear it from you.”
She grasped her daughter’s hand and Bella’s heart constricted when she saw her
mother’s frail fingers.  The skin was so translucent she could almost see
through it.
    “Do you ever
think about Jeffrey?” Her mother watched her closely.
    “Not really.
I get the newspaper once a month, and I’ve seen his name mentioned, but no, I
don’t think about him much.” She tiled her head to one side. “Why?”
    “I don’t think
he’s happy.” Her gaze left Bella’s face and wandered outside. “There’s
something not quite right with that girl he married...Angela.”
    “What do you
mean?” Bella didn’t want to be interested, but she couldn’t help asking.
    “Such odd
behavior. For the first year nobody saw much of her. After that, she was seen
out and about a few times, but then she seemed to go into hiding.” Her thoughts
seemed to drift for a moment. “I’ve heard that she drinks. Up there in that big
house, all alone. That’s only a rumor , of course. At
least the boy is well cared for; Jeffrey takes him everywhere.”
    “I have a
confession.” Bella couldn’t believe she was confiding in her mother. They’d
never talked like this before, but it felt right. “When I left here all I could
think of was ruining Jeffrey.” She gave a short, bitter laugh. “As if I could
do that. I was obsessed with the idea of coming back here and making him pay.
Fortunately, I didn’t hold onto that for too long. It morphed into a desire to
succeed; to show everybody back home that I made it.” She gazed fondly at her
mother. “Rafael and I both have the same drive when it comes to success.”
    “What’s he
like, this Rafael?”
    “He’s
brilliant. Always several steps ahead of the curve. He’s handsome in a way that
makes women stop in their tracks and just look at him. He’s great as a