Brady was trying to figure out how long it had been since he was in Wellmore and then decided if he couldn’t remember, it had been too long. The drive down from the university had been uneventful, and beautiful since it was the peak of the fall leaf season. He turned onto the road to Aunt Mattie’s house and then remembered; it was no longer Mattie’s house, it was his now. He made his way around the curve and pulled up in front of the house and then sat for a moment just looking at the house.

Nothing ever changed here, was his thought, but of course that wasn’t true. Everything had changed here. Mattie was gone, buried in the tiny family graveyard on the edge of the property, and Brady was the last of his clan. He had hired a property manager to make sure the house and yard were maintained after Mattie’s death, and it all look neat and tidy. The old steps were replaced and it Nathan, the caretaker, had made sure the yard was kept trimmed.

Brady climbed out of the car and grabbed his small case and made his way to the front door. This was always so hard walking into the house and knowing Mattie would not be there to yell at him to wipe his feet and then give him a huge hug. He missed her. Terribly. He pulled the key from his pocket and then realized the door was unlocked. He figured Nathan must be inside checking things out. He pushed open the door and smelled something cooking and suddenly the years slipped away and he was that young boy who had first come here so many years ago.

“Hello? Anybody here?”

He set down his case and turned into the kitchen and stopped dead. This couldn’t be, but it was.

“Welcome home, Brady.” Mimi was standing at the stove with Mattie’s old apron tied around her waist, holding a wooden spoon and she smiled at him and he saw the trepidation behind her eyes. Brady just stood there, tongue tied.

“What are you doing here, Mimi?” He saw the tears well up in her eyes and he felt like an idiot.

“I….I….Nathan said you were coming to stay for a bit and I….. “ she turned away from him, embarrassed, and he saw her hand go up and wipe away a tear.

“Oh, Mimi.” Brady quickly went to her then paused, not knowing what to do. All the last years of hurt and anger and misunderstandings were between them, but this was Mimi. His Mimi. He reached out to her and laid a hand on her shoulder and turned her toward him. Her tears did him in. He had seen too many of Mimi’s tears; enough to last a lifetime. He pulled her to him, and put his arms around her.

They stood together like that, their hearts beating in rhythm, and then Mimi set down the spoon and put her arms around him, and sighed. Brady kissed the top of her head.

“I am so, so sorry, Mimi.”

“I know, Brady. But everything that happened is in the past, and here we are.”

“Can you ever forgive me, Mimi?”

“I forgave you a long time ago, Brady. We were both so young, and we had so much hurt in our lives. I think we needed space and time.”

“I never deserved you, Mimi.”

“Shush now. We won’t talk of this any more right now. Sit down and let’s have beef stew and Mattie’s bread recipe, and we’ll just be two old friends catching up. That’s all. Just a hot meal and conversation. Then maybe tomorrow we can talk.”

So that is what they did, and somewhere in the middle of the food and talk, Brady understood. He had come home to Aunt Mattie’s house again.