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And so the next day, Baz took her over to Etta's parent's new house. They'd downsized a couple of years ago, after the cost of years of searching had drained their savings. Standing outside the small, cottage style building on the outskirts of the city, Sadie couldn't help but mourn the loss of the comfortable family home she, Baz and Etta had spent their afternoons after school in.
The house didn't have a doorbell. Baz fired off a quick text once they'd come to the door. A few moments later, it swung open to reveal a petite, middle-aged woman.
When she saw Sadie, her face crumpled into a smile.
"Sadie," she whispered. Maggie moved forward and enveloped Sadie in a tight hug. "It's been so long."
The familiar scent of Etta's old house washed over her, and Sadie's throat constricted. She tried to swallow but found she couldn't. She awkwardly pulled away from the embrace, eyes firmly focused on the paving.
"I..." Sadie fiddled with her rings, unable to meet Maggie's eyes. "Sorry I haven't...I should have—"
Maggie shook her head. "Why don't you come in?"
She opened the door wider and invited them both inside. Somehow, the interior of the house seemed even smaller than it looked from the façade. The corridor led to an open-plan kitchen, with a tiny conservatory overlooking a cramped back garden. Etta's father, Roy, was slumped in the easy chair beneath the stairs. Maggie murmured a greeting to him as she passed by, and he grunted in response without lifting his eyes from his book.
"How have you been keeping?" Maggie asked, returning from the kitchen with lemonade for both of them. "You must have graduated already."
"Oh, ah—" Sadie rubbed a hand through her hair. Were they really that out of touch? "No, I dropped out. I just — university wasn't for me, I guess. What about you?"
"Oh," Maggie said. Her face dropped again, just for a second, before she remembered to smile. "We're getting by, I suppose. I'm back at work now, and we've got the garden, and the outreach events to keep us busy..."
Sadie nodded. "That's good to hear."
Thankfully, Baz took over the conversation before it got any more awkward. Sadie found herself scanning the living room as they talked, looking for photos. Etta's old place had one of those big family shoot photos hanging over the mantlepiece. Sadie had always liked it, imagining herself in Etta's place. Having fun with her parents was still a foreign concept to her.
But it looked like they'd gotten rid of the picture. And all the smaller ones too - of them on holidays, at the beach, at school events. Every small commemoration, milestone - just vanished. Sadie managed to find just one photo of Etta - a small one on the mantlepiece of her as a baby, flashing a gap-toothed grin at the camera.
