Ten long years since her grandfather passed away,
a stranger comes home to walk old, familiar paths
and finds someone she didn't expect...

The dust of disuse and time’s cruel abandon layered everything as heavy-soled boots, given a light step only by their owner’s feminine grace, touched down inside the cabin. Emily hugged her hands to herself, tens of hundreds of summer memories flooding to mind as she cast her gentle gaze upon the forgotten dwelling.

Outside, thick grass had grown up around the house. A tree she and her cousins had planted when she was six had grown mighty and tall in the back yard to replace the long-rotted stump where lightning took its toll, a stark reminder how fragile life could be.

Grandpa moved to a nursing home long before he passed ten years ago, and Grandma had gone on to be with the Lord five years earlier. Even so, through the heavy patina, she could still remember. There, in that corner, was where Grandma made Timmy sit and stare at the wall for uttering his first, and last swear word. And there, on the rotted remains of what once was a sofa, Jessie dared her to wear a dress for the first time.

She smiled fondly. How exhilarating it felt, the first time cousin Emily came for a visit. In time “Emily” came out to play more and more often. Grandma thought it was adorable, and a harmless children’s game. Mom and Dad disagreed. They forbade Jessie and Emily from being alone together anymore, but it didn’t stop them.

“You’re not s’posta be here lady,” a gruff voice called, startling Emily from her thoughts. She spun about to see an older man who, for just a moment, reminded her so much of Grandpa; too much. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared. The man wrinkled his brow.

“Oh, it’s you,” he muttered.

“Hi, Uncle Nate,” the startled dove cooed.

Tired eyes cast downward; he hadn’t spoken to his nephew since the big announcement. Like most of the family, he cut his ties when the black sheep decided to cut his bits off and pretend to be a woman.

“What you doin’ here, boy,” he answered neutrally as he turned his gaze away.

“I wanted to see the old place,” Emily answered. She didn’t challenge his calling her ‘boy’. After all, that was just his way of letting her know he knew her, even after ten years. It had been an inside joke amongst all the male cousins after a fashion, growing up. “Haven’t been here since Mom caught me and Jessie playin’ that one time.”

He choked back a bitter laugh. “Your Mom howled like a banshee at Darla and me over that. Even more when you went and cut off your-” he trailed off. Even now, he couldn’t utter those words. How could any man do that to himself willingly?

But Emily smiled as she turned to step closer. She placed her hand on his shoulder, and he flinched, but he didn’t pull away.

“Why you dressed like that anyway? Thought you wanted to be all girlie,” he added, referencing her heavy flannel shirt and thick denim jeans, to say nothing of her work boots.

“Uncle Nate, I AM a woman. Always have been. Clothes don’t change that — they’re just the camouflage that helps others see me for who I really am.”

She knew she’d struck a nerve with that one. Nate fought in Vietnam. He knew too well the importance of hiding from ‘the enemy’. When he turned about to face her though, she smiled.

“I’m dressed like this ‘cause I came to assess the damage. Y’know how you used to say — right tool for the right job? I can’t wander around what could well be a dilapidated wreck dressed like I’m going to Sunday dinner.”

He cracked a smile, but only for a moment. “Your Ma know you’re back?”

“Nobody does. Mom still blames me for Daddy’s stroke,” she answered simply. She turned from him, her footfalls leading slowly into the tiny kitchen. She closed her eyes for a moment. “I could almost smell the cookies baking. God, I loved helping Gram bake, even though Jessie hated it.”

Nate let out a deep, guttural belly laugh. “She still does. Poor Robbie does all the cooking in their house.”

“I guess I should go though. I was thinkin’ about fixing this place up, maybe making something of a summer home here, but now I ain’t so sure.” She cringed at that word. Ain’t. Ten years on the east coast let her shed most of her Southern twang, yet she’d been back less than an hour and picked up as though she’d never left.

“Well, now hold on a minute,” he argued as he followed her. He paused to cough deeply, though not because of the dust the two had stirred up. “Foundation’s solid. Old house just needs a little love and a good scrub down.”

She smiled sadly as she turned back to face him. “I’m not talkin’ about the house. Bein’ back here just hurts too much.”

“Why don’t you come to dinner, and we can talk about it. Jessie and Robbie are comin’ over tonight, bringin’ the twins.” He paused, his gnarled hand, aged prematurely, reaching up to remove his faded hat as he lowered his gaze again. “When I first heard what you were doin’, I thought you’d plum lost your mind, but seein’ you now I,” he paused, his weathered lips smacking together once as he swallowed a heavy lump. “Well, anyway, you know where to find us, darlin’.”

“Uncle Nate?” she called after him. He paused, turning back to glance at her. “Why’d you come here?”

“You wouldn’t believe it if I told you,” he answered simply, but her pleading gaze urged him to answer anyway. “I just had a feelin’ I needed to be here, like that time Pa got up in the middle of the night ‘cause he had a feelin’, and found the barn on fire.”

He seemed to have a hint of a twinkle in his eye as he turned to leave again. Emily stood, silently staring at nothing in particular for the better part of thirty minutes. Finally, she exhaled, slowly and carefully making her way back out of the old building.

She pulled into the only gas station in her small hometown, next to the only working traffic light, across from the only movie theatre, a single-screen affair where she and Jessie had gone to see many an awful movie together, six months past their “in theater” release dates. She sat, and she pondered where to go from here. She could turn left and pull out onto the highway, returning her to the hotel the next town over, civilization, safety, and security.

On the other hand, she could turn right, follow the old, familiar city road, and eventually find her way to Nate’s. As she struggled with her thoughts, someone gently tapped on the driver’s side window to get her attention. She jumped with a start, and Nate smiled back at her as she rolled down her window.

“Forgot to mention yer Ma will be comin’ over too. Y’don’t need directions do ya?”

“I still remember. I could walk it blindfolded. I guess I better go back to my hotel and change though.”

He gave a quiet, but at least genuine, chuckle. “S’pose you’re right. Wouldn’t want anyone thinkin’ you’re onna them whatsits that likes other girls, hey?”

Emily’s cheeks burned as she glanced away. “I would hate to have to drag John all the way out here to defend my honor, at that. One step at a time though. We’ll see how Jessie and Mom take to my bein’ here, then … we can talk about other stuff if they don’t run me right outta town.”

Maybe her Mother still blamed her. Maybe Jessie would still refuse to speak to her even though Emily suspected Jessie’s silence was more out of peer pressure from the rest of the family, and maybe she was walking right into another family feud, but at least she could always return to her friends and fiancé, her fancy job at the radio station, but this could be her last chance to come home, and she wouldn’t throw that away.