The Whispering Hollows by Lisa Unger Page B

had never known anything else. But it was probably why she married so young and started a family as soon as she could. Her father died while she was in college, just a year before she and Alfie married. He left her some money, but few memories of any kind of love at all. After that, Alfie’s parents became her parents. They loved her, and for the first time in her life she knew what it was like to be part of a family. She didn’t tell this to many people, but she told it all to Agatha.
    â€œWhat about your aunt Beth?” asked Agatha. “Didn’t she ever tell you anything about your mother? Anything about either family?”
    Beth, too, was gone. She’d moved to Santa Fe while Eloise was in college. Their contact dwindled, and then she’d disappeared altogether. One day, Eloise tried to call and the phone had been disconnected. A birthday card Eloise sent was returned with no forwarding address. Eloise had tried to find her, had even managed to track down an old roommate. But the girl hadn’t been kind, told Eloise that some people just didn’t want to be found. Which Eloise knew now was true.
    â€œShe was young,” Eloise said to Agatha. “Just a teenager, really. A teenager in the sixties. I don’t know how much she knew about anyone, or if she cared. She left The Hollows as soon as she could, never came back.”
    Agatha cocked her head toward Eloise. “Where did she go?”
    â€œLast I heard, she had joined some commune in Pecos, New Mexico.”
    Agatha raised her eyebrows meaningfully. “When was that?”
    â€œTwenty years ago?” said Eloise. “Maybe more?”
    Agatha wore a sad smile, held her head at an inquisitive tilt. “Aren’t you curious, Eloise? Don’t you want to know more about your family?”
    Eloise felt ashamed in that moment for what seemed suddenly like an odd disconnection from her roots. All of her family, and Alfie’s, had lived in The Hollows for generations. Why didn’t she know more? Had she purposely tried to distance herself? Had she instinctively avoided asking questions of her father and her young aunt, even of herself?
    â€œYou need to go see Joy Martin at The Hollows Historical Society and do some research. I guarantee you that you are going to find some answers there.”
    â€œWhat if I don’t want answers?” asked Eloise. “What if I just want all this to go away?”
    She had started to cry then. Not just a little. It was a humiliating volcanic outburst of sobbing. Agatha moved over and wrapped her soft but strong arms around Eloise’s thin shoulders and pulled her in. This was before anything had happened with Ray and no one had held Eloise like that since Alfie passed. Eloise didn’t usually enjoy physical contact with anyone but her children and her husband. But she found herself resting her head on Agatha and letting it all go. A deep warmth had washed through her that day, and after that, Agatha became Eloise’s mentor and close friend. It was an unbalanced relationship, with Agatha doing all the giving and Eloise all the taking. One day, Eloise was going to make it up. One day, she was going to be there for Agatha in a way that no one else could—she didn’t know how or when, but she was certain of it.
    â€œIt doesn’t go away,” Agatha had said that day. “Not in my experience. You are going to have to embrace it and do your duty to it. Don’t worry, dear, I am going to show you how.”
    â€œHow did you find me?” Eloise had asked.
    â€œYour Alfie asked me to help,” Agatha said softly. “He loves you so very, very much.”
    Eloise wept for she didn’t know how long. And when she was done, Agatha told her to be strong and to start listening. And Eloise did listen to Agatha. She was smart enough to know when she needed help, and she was not always too stubborn to take it.
    That visit seemed a long time