The room was quiet except for the sound of Beanie snoring from her little dog bed in the corner.
“Would you like to know where he’s buried?” Laura asked. “I can write down the address.”
Grandma didn’t answer right away, but Virginia said that yes, we would like it.
We sat and visited for a few more minutes, and then we said our goodbyes. As we were leaving, Laura slipped me a picture of herself.
“You can give this to your mother,” she told me. “I’d love to meet her sometime, if she’s up for it.”
I thanked her and followed the grannies out to the vehicle. This had definitely not been the visit any of us expected.
Without saying a word, Virginia typed in the address Laura had given her, and we sat in silence again as we took the winding roads through the country. The sun was out now, and the world seemed completely oblivious to the pain in Grandma’s heart. But I knew it was there.
We pulled into the parking lot of an old church and could see the cemetery behind it.
“Would you like us to come with you?” Irene asked.
Grandma shook her head no.
She got out of the SUV, and her heels crunched along on the gravel as she made her way across the parking lot. She went row by row until she suddenly stopped. She dropped to her knees, and I think all of us were in tears watching her. She was finally able to say goodbye.
She stayed out there for a long time, and after a while, the grannies and I started to pull out our phones. I was in the middle of a word game when the door opened, and Grandma was standing there, her pant legs wet from the grass, and her eyes swollen and red, but still, she was smiling.
“Let’s go,” she said, climbing in.
Virginia turned around and looked at her. “You okay?”
“I can honestly say I am okay,” Grandma answered. “I got a glimpse today of what my life would’ve looked like had things worked out the way I had originally hoped. And I know I would’ve been happy for a while, but not for long. Things happen for a reason, and Thomas married someone that was better suited for him. I have loved living my life—the adventure, the grandeur, everything that was in that scrapbook his wife kept. That’s me. That’s the life I’m thankful I got to live.”
“Well,” Virginia said to us, “are we heading home?”
“Yes,” we all said, suddenly emotionally and physically exhausted from our trip.
“Wait a minute!” Irene said. “We never made it to the Butterfly Palace, and Hattie didn’t get her peach cobbler!”
“Ugh,” Hattie grunted. “I don’t want that anymore. I want a big ole slice of key lime pie. Let’s go home.”
“And as far as the Butterfly Palace,” Grandma said, smiling, “now we’ll have another reason to come back.” She pulled out her phone, and I could see she was texting Archer.
I was happy for Grandma Dean. Not only did she get the closure she wanted, she was also opening a door she had sealed shut long ago. And I had a feeling we’d be seeing Archer Nash again.
Thank You
Thanks for reading Road Trip. I have a lot of fun writing the Glock Grannies books and I hope you have fun reading them!
There are many more adventures coming so keep an eye out on Amazon for the next Glock Granny’s novel.
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Road Trip (Glock Grannies Cozy Mystery Book 6) Page 14