Chapter 22. Same Lips

ASHLENE

I carried the flowers home… and the guilt that came with it. Not just for the kiss I shared with Lyle but also for the guilt that I let these long years hinder me from seeing my mom. If I hadn’t been so hardheaded, I could’ve said my goodbyes. I should have been more sensitive to her, to know that behind those smiles she showed, there was a sad soul and sickness she concealed.

“Do you need assistance, Miss Ashlene?” one of the servers in the house asked. I nodded.

She helped me open the trunk of the car. Two men came from the back of the house and helped me with the long-stemmed white roses covered in transparent cellophane.

“Please place them in the small chapel room,” I instructed. It was where the jar was placed at the moment. The events' hall had not been prepared yet. I didn’t think the cleaning and arrangements were done by now.

“Careful with the poppies,” I said as I watched the man carry them on his right shoulder.

I followed