Class Reunion Read Online Free Page A

her mother’s leg.
    “Allison, you remember your Aunt Jenny.”
    Allison stared at her aunt, and Jennifer’s heart sank a bit. Words eluded her.
    Sally’s hand went to her daughter’s head, rubbing it gently. “Jenny is going to stay with us for a few days.” Allison stood remotely still. “Let’s go get your aunt’s luggage, okay?”
    Allison looked up at her mother and nodded. Jennifer stood, her eyes finding Sally’s as they began walking through the terminal.
    “Don’t worry. She’s shy like that with people she doesn’t know. We won’t be able to pry her away from you by the end of the weekend.”
    Jennifer nodded, trying to shrug it off. She knew her reaction was unreasonable, but she couldn’t help it. It’s my fault she doesn’t know me, Jen thought. I shouldn’t have stayed away so long.
    They picked up her luggage and were across the parking lot and inside Sally’s car minutes later. They made their way across town easily. Down Fleur Drive, up Grand Avenue, across 42nd Street. Nothing seemed to have changed since the last time Jen was there.
    “You should see West Des Moines. You wouldn’t believe all of the houses out there now. Jim and I are thinking about moving the kids out there next year.” They drove through Drake University campus, then up through Beaverdale, where as kids they had spent hours riding their bicycles. Then they moved on down Urbandale Avenue.
    “Where’s the grade school?” Jennifer leaned forŹward, looking up at the familiar hilltop where she had spent her earliest years.
    “Gone. They tore it down,” Sally explained.
    “No. How could they do that?”
    Sally shrugged. “Who knows. It’s been gone for years.”
    Feeling betrayed, Jen settled back in her seat. “Did they tear anything else down?”
    “I don’t think so,” her sister laughed. “But they did knock down all the woods behind our old house. Remember that old barn with the hayloft that we used to play in? Gone. Nothing but new houses now.”
    Childhood memories were being crushed left and right. “Mom and Dad would shit,” she muttered.
    “She said a swear word, Mommy.” Allison spoke up from the backseat for the first time.
    “Oops.” Unexpectedly chastised, Jennifer instantly apologized.
    Sally chuckled in return. “I didn’t realize how much I swore until Allison started pointing it out every time.” She looked at Allison’s reflection in the rearview mirror. “Right, honey?”
    “Right, Mommy.”
    Sally waited until Allison seemed preoccupied again. She turned back to her sister. “She’s going through a righteous stage,” she grinned. “I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.”
    “She’ll grow out of it,” Jen assured her.
    “I sure hope so,” Sally sighed. “It’s not easy to be reprimanded by a six-year-old.”
    Within minutes, they were passing Merle Hay Mall and pulling into a short driveway. Sally’s husŹband, Jim, was waiting for them when they arrived. He dropped a kiss on his sister-in-law’s cheek and welcomed her with a big hug and an even bigger grin.
    A little boy with a shock of fine white hair and the bluest eyes that Jen had ever seen was giggling with delight and tugging on his father’s trousers.
    With Allison’s lukewarm response fresh in her mind, Jen was at first reluctant with her enthusiasm.
    “Tommy?” His eyes met hers while his father hoisted him easily into his arms. He put a finger to his son’s ribs and was rewarded with peals of laughŹter.
    “Tommy? Can you say hi to your Aunt Jennifer?”
    The little boy stopped squirming, wide eyes trained on the stranger before him. He placed one finger of his left hand securely in his mouth. He pointed another finger at Jennifer.
    “Hi, Tommy.”
    The finger stayed where it was, inches from her face, while the little boy continued to search her features. He looked back to his father questioningly, his finger still hanging in the air.
    “Say hi to Jennifer,” his dad urged him.
    Again the