He crosses the room, leans down and kisses the top of Annie’s shoulder. “This seems like a dinner we should be having on the back porch.”
Annie is unsure if this suggestion is brought about by a memory or just a spur of the moment thought. “It’s going to be pretty chilly outside once the sun goes down.”
He grins. “We can wear sweaters.”
She sees the gleam in his eye and knows this is a memory.
That evening Annie moves a small heater to the porch, and they bundle themselves in wool sweaters. She sets out a cluster of five candles just as she did that Friday before the accident, and they have dinner at the small table.
It is too chilly to linger afterward, so they come inside.
As she washes the dishes and sets them into the drainer, she hears the thump, thump, thump of Oliver’s cane moving through the house. She is just finishing up when she hears him call her name.
Annie wipes her hands and hurries to the living room, but he is not there. She checks the bedroom and then the hall bath.
“Where are you?” she finally calls out.
“Come to the hall,” he answers.
She does and when Annie looks up, Oliver is halfway up the staircase.
He looks down and grins. “Let’s go find that memory I’ve misplaced.”
~ ~ ~
In the weeks that follow, Annie reopens the apothecary and Oliver settles at the desk in his study. Every other day the clerk from his office comes with a new package of files for Oliver to review. They work together for an hour or two, then the clerk returns with a list of assignments: research this case, find a precedent for such-and-such a ruling, bring back a report on any priors.
Before the month is out Oliver has few, if any, holes in his memory.
In January on a Friday evening when Oliver sits in his study browsing through the Richmond Times-Dispatch he happens across a small article on page 6 of the Regional News Section.
DRUNK DRIVER GETS 2 YEARS
January 29, 2015, Second District Court of Virginia: Danny Logan, a multiple offender, was sentenced to two years in the Coffeewood Correctional Center for a third DUI offense. At the time of the accident Logan was driving without a valid license. His license had been suspended for a previous DUI offense in September of 2014.
Logan pled No Contest to the charge.
Samuel Harkins, the presiding judge, said, “This incident was so horrendous it is a miracle the victim survived. Had he not, this would have been a manslaughter charge, and Logan would be looking at 20 years to life.”
Although there is a photo of accident aftermath, there is no mention of Oliver’s name.
When Oliver looks at the photo, he remembers the accident. It plays like a slow motion movie running through his mind. He remembers the phone flying from his hand. He can picture the split second the truck slammed into the side of his car, the explosion of the airbag, the policeman at the window, the fireman lifting his leg free. He can hear the sound of sirens growing closer, and then there is nothing.
Nothing until Annie’s shadow speaks to him.
Oliver folds the newspaper and slides it into the bottom of his briefcase. On Monday he will return to work at the courthouse, and he will dispose of the newspaper there. This is the one memory he will forever keep from Annie.
The Scale of Life
When the Keeper of the Scale watches Oliver Doyle climb the staircase toward the loft, he gives a huge sigh of relief. On the earth it is felt as a gust of wind. A swirl of red and gold leaves tumble from the oaks surrounding the Good Shepherd Church, and the branches of the willow at Memory House sway.
For the moment, Annie Doyle’s scale is in balance.
The Keeper knows this will be short-lived. A baby is on the way. Before the year is out, Annie’s scale will again be weighted on the happiness side.
She is one of those rare individuals capable of happiness so great it spills over into other lives. In the time she has known Ophelia Browne, she has caused Ophelia’s scale to weigh heavily on the happiness side. And were it not for the accident, Oliver’s scale would have bottomed out with what is known as overwhelming joy.
Max Martinelli, Annie’s friend, is a girl who, with the exception of that one year in Paris, has always been perfectly level. But as he gazes into the future, the Keeper can see Max’s scale will soon be totally out of balance. It will happen because of what Annie tells her.
He wearily shakes his head. The Keeper knows this will come to pass, but he has no power to ordain the events of life; his job is simply to maintain the balance of sorrow and happiness.
Tonight Annie will look up and see the stars in the night sky. The scale is there between Spica and Antares, but she will not see it again until next summer.
Even then—even when the scale is visible in the sky—no mortal can see the balance of their scale. This only the Keeper sees.
Since the start of time he has carried the weight of this responsibility, so he stands ready with a collection of small round river rocks made smooth by years of wear and worry. When the time is right, he will balance each mortal’s scale, just as he has done for all these many centuries.
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If you would like to continue reading about Memory House, Ophelia, Annie and Max
Click Here to order your copy of What The Heart Remembers, Book Three. Follow along as Max returns to Paris in search of her lost love and discovers a truth so devastating it could change her life forever.
Also included in this series:
MEMORY HOUSE
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About the Author
Award-winning novelist Bette Lee Crosby brings the wit and wisdom of her Southern Mama to works of fiction—the result is a delightful blend of humor, mystery and romance.
“Storytelling is in my blood,” Crosby laughingly admits, “My mom was not a writer, but she was a captivating storyteller, so I find myself using bits and pieces of her voice in most everything I write.”
Crosby’s work was first recognized in 2006 when she received The National League of American Pen Women Award for a then unpublished manuscript. Since then, she has gone on to win numerous other awards, including The Reviewer’s Choice Award, FPA President’s Book Award Gold Medal and The Royal Palm Literary Award.
To learn more about Bette Lee Crosby, explore her other work, or read a sample from any of her books, visit her blog at:
http://betteleecrosby.com
Table of Contents
THE LOFT
The First Stone
Annie
The Swans
Ethan Allen Doyle
The Dream
Short Honeymoon
Annie Cross…now Doyle
The Call
Oliver Doyle
Healing Tea
Annie’s Plans
Ophelia
The Architect
Max Martinelli
Roommates
The Magic of Friendship
Annie
In the Weeks that Follow
Every Right
Perchance to Dream
Ophelia
Max’s Visits
The Decision
Changes
Annie
Coming Home
Ophelia
A Sad Surprize
Max
Baylor Towers
The First Night
Annie
A Time of Changes
A Perfect Life
The Dinner Party
Annie
The Weight of Happiness
The Premonition
Annie
In Dorchester
Mercy Hospital
Annie
Day One
The Long Night
The Good Doctor
Laura Doyle
The Ultimatum
Doctor Rahul Sharma
Annie’s Dream
The Book
The First Word
Celebration Time
Annie
Of Things to Come
A Time of Renewal
Oliver
The Homecoming
The Scale of Life
More by Bette Lee Crosby
About the Author