The room went quiet.<\/p>\n
I held the open bag between my fingers and breathed in again.<\/p>\n
Dry grain.<\/p>\n
Something nutty.<\/p>\n
Something faintly sweet.<\/p>\n
The smell reminded me of my grandmother’s pantry, where sacks of flour had once stood beside jars of beans and cracked wheat.<\/p>\n
I looked at Jacqueline.<\/p>\n
She was watching me so closely that I almost felt sorry for her.<\/p>\n
Almost.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d Zachary asked.<\/p>\n
I dipped one finger toward the powder, then stopped.<\/p>\n
Jacqueline noticed.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon’t taste it if you’re not sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBrenda\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
I touched the tiniest amount.<\/p>\n
Then I tasted it.<\/p>\n
Nothing happened.<\/p>\n
No bitter chemical taste.<\/p>\n
No strange sensation.<\/p>\n
Just flour.<\/p>\n
Plain flour.<\/p>\n
I stared at the ceiling.<\/p>\n
The entire story I had invented in my head collapsed so quickly that I almost felt dizzy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s flour.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zachary blinked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is flour.\u201d<\/p>\n
He took the bag from me and examined the contents.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou’re sure?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know what flour tastes like.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jacqueline covered her face.<\/p>\n
A laugh escaped her.<\/p>\n
This time I understood it.<\/p>\n
Not completely.<\/p>\n
But enough to see the ridiculous shape of the situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have dozens of bags of flour under our bed,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
She lowered her hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey’re not all the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is somehow not reassuring.\u201d<\/p>\n
She smiled weakly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey’re different grains.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zachary looked at the labels.<\/p>\n
\u201cE-14. R-07. B-22.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jacqueline immediately became more animated.<\/p>\n
\u201cE-14 is an einkorn variety.\u201d<\/p>\n
She pointed toward another bag.<\/p>\n
\u201cR-07 is rye.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then another.<\/p>\n
\u201cB-22 is buckwheat.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the notebook.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the measurements?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy starter log.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe map?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGrain mills.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe humming?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face turned bright red.<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
She looked at Theodore.<\/p>\n
He gave her an encouraging nod.<\/p>\n
\u201cI talk to my starters.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou talk to them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour flour?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy sourdough starters.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Zachary.<\/p>\n
He was trying not to laugh.<\/p>\n
I gave him a warning look.<\/p>\n
He pressed his lips together.<\/p>\n
Jacqueline sighed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know it sounds strange.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sounds less strange than what I thought five minutes ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Theodore finally laughed.<\/p>\n
Jacqueline glared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou’re enjoying this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI love you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn’t answer my question.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does.\u201d<\/p>\n
He sat beside her.<\/p>\n
I looked at the notebook again.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo this is all baking?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe map?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe red marks?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPlaces I wanted to visit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe little codes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDifferent varieties and batches.\u201d<\/p>\n
I sank slowly onto the mattress.<\/p>\n
For six months, I had believed the closed door meant something sinister.<\/p>\n
The truth was almost embarrassingly ordinary.<\/p>\n
Jacqueline had been protecting a hobby.<\/p>\n
Not from me.<\/p>\n
From Theodore.<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would you make her hide it?\u201d<\/p>\n
He raised both eyebrows.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tease her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jacqueline muttered, \u201cConstantly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAffectionately.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStill constantly.\u201d<\/p>\n
He sighed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn’t realize she was embarrassed.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou call me your flour girl.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is because you are my flour girl.\u201d<\/p>\n
She groaned.<\/p>\n
I laughed despite myself.<\/p>\n
The tension in the room finally broke.<\/p>\n
Zachary sat beside me.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Mom has been hiding baking supplies in our guest room for six months.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTechnically,\u201d Jacqueline said, \u201cI was storing them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder our mattress.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI ran out of space.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the suitcase.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are enough bags here to open a bakery.\u201d<\/p>\n
She smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot a bakery.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA small research kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Theodore laughed again.<\/p>\n
Jacqueline pointed at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cSee?\u201d<\/p>\n
He held up both hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m done.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked back at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really am sorry, Brenda.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice had changed.<\/p>\n
The humor was gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI should have told you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was embarrassed.\u201d<\/p>\n
I softened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked down at her hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I love this. More than I probably should.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s nothing wrong with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don’t understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTry me.\u201d<\/p>\n
She glanced toward Theodore.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe thinks it is funny.\u201d<\/p>\n
Theodore’s expression became gentle.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never meant for her to think I was ashamed of her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jacqueline’s eyes filled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that now.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the banana bread downstairs.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou made that with one of these?\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rye starter.\u201d<\/p>\n
I smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the strange smell I noticed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably the starter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the humming?\u201d<\/p>\n
She covered her face again.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou really talk to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey respond.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zachary made a choking sound.<\/p>\n
I turned toward him.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon’t.\u201d<\/p>\n
He swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cSorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jacqueline laughed too.<\/p>\n
The ridiculousness had finally become harmless.<\/p>\n
But one question remained.<\/p>\n
I picked up the notebook.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn’t you tell us?\u201d<\/p>\n
She answered quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I thought you would think I was odd.\u201d<\/p>\n
That landed differently.<\/p>\n
For six months, I had assumed the locked door was a warning.<\/p>\n
It had actually been a hiding place for something she loved.<\/p>\n
I closed the notebook.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would have liked to know.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cReally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyes filled again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would have shown you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen show me now.\u201d<\/p>\n
She smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will.\u201d<\/p>\n
She began gathering the bags.<\/p>\n
Zachary helped.<\/p>\n
Theodore carried the suitcase downstairs.<\/p>\n
By the time we reached the kitchen, the house no longer felt tense.<\/p>\n
Jacqueline opened the banana bread container.<\/p>\n
The smell filled the room.<\/p>\n
She cut several slices and pushed the first plate toward me.<\/p>\n
I took a bite.<\/p>\n
Warm.<\/p>\n
Dense.<\/p>\n
Slightly tangy.<\/p>\n
Excellent.<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is why you were hiding all that flour?\u201d<\/p>\n
She smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome?\u201d<\/p>\n
She laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are still things you haven’t seen.\u201d<\/p>\n
I raised an eyebrow.<\/p>\n
She pointed toward the suitcase.<\/p>\n
I looked at it.<\/p>\n
For the first time that morning, I wasn’t afraid of what might be inside.<\/p>\n
I was curious.<\/p>\n
And when Jacqueline began explaining the difference between her rye starter and her einkorn flour, I realized that the secret I had spent hours imagining was nothing like the truth.<\/p>\n
It had simply been a woman guarding the one strange little obsession that made her happy.<\/p>\n
The guest room was finally empty.<\/p>\n
But I already knew it would not stay that way for long.<\/p>\n
The room went quiet. I held the open bag between my fingers and breathed in again. Dry grain. Something nutty. Something faintly sweet. The smell reminded me of my grandmother’s … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sharestory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1594"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1609,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1594\/revisions\/1609"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}