The Sweetness of Forgetting (96)

This makes me smile. “Thanks,” I say. “Thanks for telling me that.”

I’m about to turn away when she speaks again. “He always seemed sad, though.”

“Sad?” I ask.

“Yeah. He went out for a walk every day, and he always came back at night, after dark, looking like he lost something.”

“Thank you,” I whisper, sorrow flooding through me as we turn away and head out the door. It seems that all those nights Mamie sat waiting for the stars to come out, Jacob was out looking for something too.



It takes us fifteen minutes to cross east to Whitehall Street and head south to find the address the super’s wife gave us. It turns out to be a modern-looking building that soars above the others around it. There’s no doorman, which I’m relieved about; we won’t have to explain our mission to yet one more person.

“Apartment 2232,” I say to Gavin as we head for the elevators. The doors slide open and I punch the number 22, tapping my foot impatiently as the doors close.

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon,” I murmur as the elevator begins its slow ascent.

Gavin reaches for my hand and squeezes. “We’re going to find him, Hope,” he says.

“I don’t know how to thank you for everything you’ve done to help me,” I say, pausing long enough to look into his eyes and smile. For a frozen moment, I’m sure he’s about to kiss me, but then the elevator dings and the doors slide open. We’re here.

We race down the hall, right and then left, to apartment 2232. It’s the last apartment on the right-hand side of the hall, and as Gavin knocks, I glance out the window at the hall’s end. It’s a beautiful view, out over the southern tip of Manhattan and across the water. But I can’t focus on that now. I turn toward the door and will it to open.

But there’s no answer, no footsteps from inside.

“Try again,” I say. Gavin nods and knocks again, more loudly this time. Still nothing. I’m trying not to feel entirely deflated. But what now? “Again,” I say weakly. Gavin raps on the door so loudly this time that the door across the hall opens. An old woman stands there, staring at us.

“What’s all the racket?” she demands.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” Gavin says. “We’re trying to find Jacob Levy.”

“And you can’t knock like normal human beings?” she asks. “You have to beat down the door?”

“He’s not answering,” I tell her miserably. I take a deep breath. “Does he still live there? Is he still . . . ?” My voice trails off, but what I’m meaning to ask is whether he’s still alive. It’s a terrible thing to wonder.

“Calm down,” the woman says. “I don’t know where he is. I don’t even know him. Now if you could kindly keep it down, I’m trying to watch my shows.”

The door slams before we can say anything else. I feel weak in the knees, and I lean against the wall for support. Gavin settles in beside me and puts his arm around my shoulder. “We’re going to find him, Hope. He’s here. I know it.”

I nod, but I can’t bring myself to believe it. What if we’ve come all this way, only to find that we’re mere months too late? I glance out the window at the end of the hall again, taking in the beautiful view as tears cloud my vision. Below us stretch a few short blocks of Manhattan, ending in the green tip of Battery Park. Beyond that, across the deep blue water of New York Harbor, lie Governors Island to the left and Ellis Island to the right. I wonder whether that’s where Jacob and my grandmother first arrived in this country. Just beyond Ellis Island is Liberty Island, where I see the Statue of Liberty, holding her torch high. It gleams in the sunlight, and I think for a minute about the freedom it represents. What must it have been like to enter into this country for the first time, via Ellis Island, passing such a strong symbol of everything this nation stands for?

And then, just like that, something clicks into place and my jaw drops.

“Gavin,” I say, grabbing his arm. “I know where he is.”

“What?” he asks, startled.

“I know where Jacob is,” I say. “The queen. The queen with the torch. Oh my God, I know where he is!”





Chapter Twenty-five



Overnight Meringues



INGREDIENTS





2 egg whites


1/2 cup white sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites on high speed with a hand mixer until soft peaks form.

3. Add the sugar, 1/8 cup at a time, beating continuously. Continue to beat until peaks are stiff and stand up on their own.

4. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in vanilla.

5. Fold in chocolate chips gently with a wooden spoon.

6. Drop by the teaspoon onto baking sheets covered in parchment paper. Try to make sure each mound has at least one chocolate chip. Mounds should easily hold their own shape.

7. Place pan in oven and immediately turn off heat.

8. Leave overnight. No peeking allowed! When you wake up the next morning, open the oven; the meringues will be done and ready to serve.