The Memory Keeper: A Heartwarming, Feel-Good Romance(2)
“What’s wrong?”
“Gran’s in the hospital,” her mother said, her words breathless. “She’s not doing well, Hannah. Your dad and I flew in late last night, and we’re staying at her house until we can get a handle on the situation. You need to come home as soon as you can to see her.”
Hannah leaned on her suitcase and hung her head, her whole body going limp. Guiltily, she considered the fact that she hadn’t been to her hometown for more than a quick pop-in for years, and she hadn’t actually stayed at Gran’s since she’d left for NYU when she was eighteen. The time had completely gotten away from her, and now the years she’d missed with Gran were crashing down with a slam.
“Oh no,” Hannah said.
Gran was never sick, and because of that, Hannah hadn’t prepared herself for the wave of fear that washed over her at the sound of her mother’s broken, panic-stricken words. Gran was the family matriarch, the solitary voice of wisdom, and the one who they all turned to when they needed support. At ninety-five, Gran was the picture of health, unbelievably still doing what she loved, running her flower shop on 110 Ivy Lane during limited hours, and promising never to retire, even though Hannah’s mother had confided in her that the place was a complete shambles, which was distressing to say the least.
“What’s the matter with her?” Hannah asked her mother, plugging her other ear to hear over the commotion, as the baggage claim area began filling with passengers rushing past her and grabbing their bags in a hurry.
“She collapsed on the street in town a couple of days ago. A neighbor called me, and your dad and I flew home right away to take her to the hospital. I wanted to get a final diagnosis before I worried you with it. I’ll tell you everything when you arrive, but you need to come now,” her mother said. “When can you be here?”
Hannah scrambled to force her brain to process this. “I’ll get a flight right away,” she said.
“Ethan’s been stopping by. I’ll see if I can send him to pick you up from the airport,” her mother said urgently.
Hannah had only seen her childhood best friend Ethan for a few fleeting weekends since she’d left for college after high school. Time had moved on, wedging between them, and before long she’d stopped hearing from him altogether. She hadn’t been in touch with him in years.
“Don’t worry him with it,” she said, the guilt of being away so long suddenly swarming her. “I’ll rent a car when I get to Nashville airport. I have to go right now, but I’m on my way.”
“Okay, honey. I love you.”
“Love you, Mama.”
Hannah hung up the phone. Her Barbados birthday trip with Miles would have to wait. While she hated to put their relationship on hold any longer, she had to. Miles would understand, surely.
As she looked for him again, a wave of fear simmered slowly in her gut and then burst through her veins. So many thoughts were racing around her mind. The two very different parts of her life—the southern roots of her childhood and this new version of herself she’d created in adulthood—were suddenly converging, and she was struggling to handle all the emotions she was feeling. Hannah felt as if she were on autopilot, silently scolding herself for going so long without seeing Gran.
The most important people in Gran’s life were her family, and with Hannah in New York, and Hannah’s parents now in Florida, Gran had been all alone. Hannah couldn’t imagine Gran’s bungalow filled with silence, or the quiet that must have saturated the place after everyone had left her. And with the shop literally falling apart around her… Hannah felt the prick of tears. Okay, focus, she told herself. Find Miles and tell him what’s going on. She needed him now more than ever.
Frantically, she scanned the crowd of passengers, but Miles hadn’t reached the baggage claim yet. She would need his support to deal with this, and while the circumstances were less than ideal, it would be good for them to be together without the demands of their jobs. She hadn’t even introduced him to her parents yet. It was time to do that.
A group of people walked towards her, but still no Miles. She took a few steps to get out of their way.
“Excuse me,” a guy about her age said when he accidentally bumped into her, as she started to make her way to the outskirts of the growing crowd.
They locked eyes for a second, familiarity swimming around at the edges of her distraught brain. Cloudy flashes came into her consciousness of a bare-chested boy, showing off and jumping into the river while she and her childhood friend Morgan Pete giggled bashfully. The man in front of her was polished, somber, but there was definitely something about him she couldn’t put her finger on that made it seem as if she knew him. Wait, Liam McGuire?
As if he could read her thoughts, his gaze lingered on her while he worked to unwind the bag that had gotten tangled with hers when she’d rolled her suitcase over it. “Sorry,” he added.
Hannah attempted to pull her things out of his way. Liam tugged quickly, obviously in a rush to get out of there, the seriousness on his face doing nothing to diminish the incredible good looks he’d held on to since they were kids.
“It’s no problem,” she said, trying to help. By the way he was rushing, she wondered if he didn’t want to be recognized. She didn’t really have time to catch up right now, anyway.
Her fingers found his bag and pulled, but she only succeeded in jerking it in the wrong direction, having been distracted by a new group of passengers arriving at the baggage claim. She turned toward the escalator to see if Miles was heading down yet.