“Why didn’t your mama just keep her on, instead of hiring someone else?” I asked. Reasonable enough question, right?
“That wasn’t really something your great-grannie wanted to do full-time. She just had to earn some extra money for awhile, is what she said.” The tone of Annabelle’s voice hinted that she had other suspicions, but if she knew the real truth, she wasn’t letting on. Maybe she’d divulge later—if there ever was a later.
Right now, though, it was time to get a move on. I still had to hunt down the lotion and buy my panties—no way was I going to go back out to meet Grandpa empty-handed, not after having spent so long in the store. He was probably bored to death by now.
“Annabelle, it’s been such a pleasure to meet you, but I have to scoot,” I said, hoping the disappointment I felt in having to leave was clear in my voice. I really did want to know more, and I had no doubt she had more to tell. “Grandpa’s out there somewhere waiting on me, and I still haven’t picked up what I came in here for,” I said. “I’d love to talk more, though,” I ventured, hearing the words come out in a rush. “Is there a way I can reach you?”
“Oh, yes, of course!” She laughed, apparently finding my question a bit absurd. “I’ll give you my number…and I’m on Facebook,” she said, whipping out an iPhone encased in pink crystals. The woman may have been nearing the century mark on her life, but everything about her exuded youthful energy. “Do you Facebook?”
I knew my face registered the shock I was feeling, but I could only hope she was too preoccupied with her cell phone to see it.
“Um, yes,” I stammered, trying to recover quickly—and gracefully. “Yes, ma’am, I’m on Facebook.”
“Well, then, you can friend me on Facebook,” she replied, sounding gleeful. “I’m on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, too!” she added. “I like to keep up with things, you know how it is.”
Of course I did. Didn’t everybody?
I blinked once. Twice.
Who was this woman?
She slid a glance at me. “Well don’t look so shocked, honey.” She laughed again. “I may be in my eighties, but I’m far from kicking any buckets!”
“Clearly!” I said, feeling the blush rise in my cheeks.
Annabelle winked, quick as a flash. “I have a brand new pair of leopard-print Louboutins, and I have every intention of wearing them at my ninetieth birthday party,” she said hotly. “My George would have loved them.”
Something about Annabelle MacMillan told me that when she had her mind set to something, nothing would stop her.
I left the store a few minutes later, purchases in hand and now in possession of Annabelle’s number. I could hardly wait to hear more from this captivating little creature. And to find out more about George, their scandalous romance—and just how well she knew my family.
Chapter Nine
I couldn’t very well let on that I’d bought a pair of very flashy panties to my grandfather; so before I left the store, I’d made sure that they were safely tucked away in the bottom of the bag, hidden by the folds of fuchsia tissue paper and just under the bottle of lotion.
I tracked him down, sitting on a bench outside the sporting goods store.
I surveyed him from a distance, once again feeling amazed at how much he’d visibly aged since the last time I’d seen him. At eighty-four, he was still undeniably robust and extremely energetic, but the emotional strain of the past months had obviously taken their toll. Though he might never say it, all of those days at the hospital had stripped a few layers. And missing Grammie was harder on him than he would admit.
“Are you ready?” he asked when I finally sidled up next to him.
I nodded, wordlessly holding up the small striped pink bag. “All set.”
“Anywhere else you’d like to go while we’re here?”
I shook my head, feeling fully satisfied.
“Okay…how about some food. Are you hungry?”
I hadn’t noticed it before, but now, at the mention of hunger, my stomach suddenly seemed to awaken. Breakfast had been a long time ago. I stole a quick glance at my watch to see exactly what time it was.
“I wouldn’t argue at some lunch,” I replied tentatively, surprised to see that it was nearly two o’clock, yet afraid that whatever suggestion he made might be far out of my comfort zone. My bucket list flashed into my head: Eat Somewhere Unsafe. Was I prepared to tackle that challenge right then? I knew that this was going to be one of my biggest hurdles—one that I would have to face time and time again until Safe and Unsafe no longer existed. Was I ever really going to be ready? The truth was, I’d been allowing myself to back down, to retreat on the justification that I just wasn’t ready to be brave, that it seemed easier not to jump. Not to fight. Not to eat things that people ate everyday without thought or worry. I’d gotten so restricted by the boundaries my mind had created that a once healthy awareness of nutrition had become a dangerous disorder; and if I was ever going to get better, I was going to have to make changes, even when I didn’t feel ready.
“There’s a Chick-fil-A not far from here, if you’d like to go there,” he offered.
I felt a quick twinge of panic as I nodded in agreement. “Sure. I haven’t had their food in a long time.”
He smiled. “Most of the time, I just go there for a breakfast biscuit; but when I go there for lunch, I like their Chick-fil-A sandwich best. And those waffle fries are pretty tasty, too.” Grandpa rubbed his solid stomach as he spoke.
He may have been frequenting the fast food restaurants much more than he had while my grandmother was alive, but it certainly wasn’t adding to his waistline.
“It’s a plan, then,” I said, not really knowing what else to say and trying to feel a sense of empowerment at even this tiny test of the boundaries I’d set on my comfort level. “Have anything else in mind for the day, or should we just go on home after that?”
“I’ve been meaning to mow the grass, so I think we’ll just head back to the house, if you’re okay with that,” he answered.
“You’ve got it. And don’t worry, Grandpa,” I said, hoping the sincerity was evident in my voice as I spoke, “I don’t need to be entertained—that’s not why I came. Just because I’m here doesn’t mean I expect you to make major schedule changes or anything like that.” I reached out for his hand, grasping his big, gnarled fingers in mine. “I’m just glad to see you.”
“I’m glad to see you, too,” Grandpa said back, squeezing my hand as we walked, now hand-in-hand along the sidewalk back to the truck.
“I meant to tell you, I met somebody interesting in the lingerie store earlier,” I said a little while later when we’d settled into a booth at the restaurant with our food. “Someone you know, too—Annabelle MacMillan?” I popped the lid off of my bowl of chicken noodle soup, hoping I wouldn’t splash any of the hot liquid anywhere. It had been a compromise, I knew; but when I’d gotten in line to order, I’d parroted the words that screamed through my head, opting for something that felt safe to eat in this restaurant that had somehow become unsafe.
“She seems like a very nice lady. Said she used to come to Grammie for cakes anytime she threw a party,” I continued, trying to distract my own mind from the food—safe, unsafe, or otherwise.
Grandpa paused, his hand poised in mid-dip with waffle fry still immersed in his ketchup. Obviously, the name registered.
He nodded, then resumed his fry-to-mouth mission.
I watched him closely, trying to gauge his oddly noncommittal reaction. Clearly, the man had no intention of elaborating.
“Sounded like she’d known Grammie for a long time, too,” I continued, keeping a gimlet eye on his face. “She said her mama’d hired Grannie Rose to do her housekeeping for awhile.” I dipped a plastic spoon into my soup, hoping I sounded far more casual than I felt. Obviously, the suspicions I’d formed earlier weren’t totally off base. There was more to the story, and I was dying to hear it.
More nodding. “She did,” he s
aid finally, having stalled long enough to finished chewing and swallowing his waffle fry. “Didn’t do it for very long, though.” He reached for his sandwich.
“I didn’t know Grannie Rose was ever anyone’s housekeeper,” I said, wondering if I was going to get much out of him. “I didn’t think she worked.”
“She didn’t, except for that little while when your Grammie was a teenager, right before we met.” He poked a thick finger in between his sandwich bun and the fried chicken breast, lifting it just enough to satisfy himself that no one had gypped him of his two pickles.
I raised an eyebrow. The man was not one for details. “Why did she work, then? Did she have to?”
“She was saving money for a wedding,” he said, seconds before he sank his teeth into his sandwich.
That certainly made sense, especially in those days. Lord knew my great-grandparents weren’t made of money. With ten mouths to feed, every penny was pinched within an inch of its life, so the idea of having enough to spare to pay for a wedding was a bit ludicrous.
“Who was getting married?” I asked, finally closing my mouth around my first spoonful of thick broth and noodles.
“Grammie.”
I choked on my soup.
Not, Grammie and me. Just, Grammie.
Which meant that Grammie had been getting ready to get married to someone else.
Who?
This was something I’d definitely never heard about.
“Should let your soup cool down a little before you start eating it,” he scolded, shaking his head.
I coughed some more, trying to catch my breath.
Seriously? He’d just dropped a bombshell like that, and he thought the reason I was choking on my soup was because it was hot?
“It’s fine,” I said, finally finished with my coughing fit. “The soup’s fine,” I added, shaking my head. “I was just surprised, is all. I didn’t know Grammie had ever been engaged to anyone but you.” I paused. Maybe I’d misunderstood. “That is what you meant, isn’t it? That Grannie Rose was saving up for Grammie to marry someone who was…not you?”
He nodded.
“Who?” I probed, feeling as though I was pulling teeth.
“George MacMillan.”
If I’d thought the statement about Grammie being engaged to someone before she met Grandpa had been a bombshell, this was a nuclear blast. I was definitely unprepared for that one.
I gaped at Grandpa, who was as placidly chewing his chicken sandwich as though we were in the middle of discussing the weather.
“George MacMillan?” I repeated, somewhat unnecessarily.
Grandpa nodded, still chewing.
“What happened?” I asked, every available cell in my brain actively working to try and piece together something plausible that would explain this revelation.
He shrugged. “Oh, he decided he had a thing for Annabelle, and that was it. He ran off with her, and next thing anybody knew, they came back married.”
I blinked and gaped some more.
He finally ventured a glance my way, probably wondering at my long silence.
“Is there something wrong with your soup? Do you need to take it back up there?” he asked, his tone implying that it was the most reasonable question in the world. Clearly, the fact that I had only managed to take one mouthful of my soup could have nothing to do with the information he’d so casually imparted only seconds ago.
I shook my head vigorously. “Soup’s fine, Grandpa. Why have I never heard this story? Does Mama know?”
He gave me a look that seemed just on this side of a scowl. Apparently, I was pressing for details that he wasn’t prepared to give.
“It’s not that important,” he said with yet another shrug. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to wear his shoulders out from all the shrugging.
“Not that important?” I asked incredulously. That was insane. Of course it was important—it was part of our family history. If Grammie had married George MacMillan, none of us would even be here.
“Not really,” he replied. “It happened, and everyone just had to accept it. Then she met me, and we got married.”
The End, Amen.
“Yes, but—” I stammered, not willing to let it drop so easily.
“But what? It’s not complicated. George was an idiot, simple as that.” He took another bite of his fries. “Finish your soup before it gets cold,” he prompted, ready to move on.
“That still doesn’t explain anything,” I countered, hoping he would give me more.
“Sure it does,” Grandpa insisted. “It explains why he left a smart, stable girl like your Grammie for someone as flighty as Annabelle was back then. He was an idiot,” he reiterated, his face showing his obvious boredom at this line of questioning.
“Wow. How long had he and Grammie been engaged? And you still haven’t told me—does Mama know all this?” I couldn’t help but assume she didn’t. I would have known about it, too, if she’d had any clue.
“No, your mama doesn’t know,” he replied, finally acknowledging the question. “Like I said, there wasn’t really any reason to know. It happened, life moved on.”
Obviously, he wasn’t going to give me anything more than that. At least, not now. But I was determined to find out more. And if I had to go straight to the source of the scandal, I would. After all, she seemed more than willing to share.
“Now eat up,” he said, sounding a bit gruff. “I want to mow the lawn before the rain comes.”
I leveled my gaze at him and obediently took another spoonful of my soup, ice cold by now. Those gray-blue eyes of his had turned as cloudy as the sky outside, which now seemed portentous of a looming rainstorm.
What wasn’t he telling me? Maybe there really wasn’t much more to the story than the rashness of youth, but this was a part of my grandmother’s life that I’d never known. She was gone now, and I would never be able to ask her how it had felt. How long had it taken her to give her heart fully, and had she loved my grandfather the same way that she had once loved George—or did he teach her to love more? These were all things that I wanted to know, needed to know, and wished so greatly that I could ask Grammie now. These were the things I’d never known to ask her, and now I would never have the chance.
Chapter Ten
“Charlie, did you know that Grammie was engaged to someone before she met Grandpa?” I asked my sister, hours later as I sat on the bed in my temporary quarters, tracing the outlines of the roses on the cream-colored comforter.
The silence on the other end of the line gave me all the answer I needed.
“Did I lose you?” I said.
“I’m here,” she replied. “I’m just processing, is all. It’s…a surprise.”
“Isn’t it? I almost choked to death on my soup when Grandpa told me.”
“I guess it kind of makes sense, though. I’m sure there’s a lot of stuff that happened when Grammie and Grandpa were young that we’ve never heard about. It’s probably just not something they even think anyone wants to know.” She paused. “You know how that generation can be. I don’t mean to generalize, but a lot of older people just aren’t big on information unless you ask them specific questions. It’s part of their past, and they just don’t think it’s anybody’s business.”
“But we’re not just anybody, we’re family. And this is stuff we should know,” I argued.
“I agree with you, Dellie; that’s not what I’m saying. I’m just trying to come up with a reason that we don’t know this already.”
“I wonder if Mama knows. Grandpa said she doesn’t, but maybe she does and she’s kept it a secret,” I said.
“No, I’m pretty sure that if Mama knew, she’d have told us,” Charlie replied. “She would have known that it was something that would interest us. A family factoid that we’d think was important.”
“Grandpa acts like it’s no big deal, like I shouldn’t waste any energy thinking about it. Not really like it’s a secret, just that he’s done
with it all. On the upside, I met someone today who might be a little more willing to talk. A lot more willing to talk, actually,” I said, picturing the sprightly little figure of Annabelle MacMillan.
“Oh?” I could tell I had Charlie well and truly hooked.
“Do you remember ever meeting anyone here when we were little named Annabelle MacMillan?” I asked. Even though I didn’t recall the encounter, Annabelle’s reference to me being an itty-bitty thing implied that we’d had at least one meeting, even if it had been years ago. Which also meant that she might have met Charlie. As the oldest, Charlie might remember it.
I could practically hear the name being run through her mental computer.
“No, I don’t think so,” she said after the long pause. “The name doesn’t sound familiar. Why?”
“It seems Annabelle was married to a man named George MacMillan,” I began.
“Okay…?”
“And until he met Annabelle, George MacMillan was engaged to Grammie.”
“What?” she screeched.
“I gather nap time is over?”
“Oh, hush, I wasn’t that loud!” she said, a few decibels lower.
“Maybe not, but still,” I replied, smiling. What I wouldn’t give to see the look on her face right now. “It’s crazy, isn’t it? I’m dying to hear what happened back then.”
“No joke,” Charlie said. “So you think this Annabelle woman will tell you? Where did you meet her, anyway?”
“Grandpa and I were at Town Center, where Coliseum Mall used to be,” I answered. “I was in Victoria’s Secret, picking out some panties, and I ran into her in there.”
“Seriously? In Victoria’s Secret? How old is this woman—she’s gotta be past eighty.” Charlie was clearly appalled.
“And that’s too old for a lingerie store? I’ll remember to remind you of this when we’re in our eighties. I can only hope I’ll be that spry when I’m that age. This lady’s a pistol.”
True, the woman might have stolen my grandmother’s fiancé right out from under her, but I couldn’t help being slightly in awe of her.
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