The Memory Keeper: A Heartwarming, Feel-Good Romance(33)

“Go on then, my love,” Gran said.

Mama propped the phone up on the table while Hannah unwrapped her present, revealing an old journal, the pages yellowed with age.

“What is this?” Hannah asked, opening the book, and reading the first entry’s date: February 14, 1943.

“It’s the journal I started when I was eighteen,” Gran said. “A collection of all the memories from my youth in Kentucky. It’s all that came before I was your gran. And a story I almost didn’t have a chance to tell you. There’s never been a more important time than now to do that.”

Tears sprung up in Hannah’s eyes. She felt as though Gran was slowly getting her affairs in order, which meant she was preparing for the end, and Hannah couldn’t bear it. She peered down at this gift, like a lifeline to her beloved grandmother, a keepsake that would stay with Hannah forever. “Thank you,” Hannah said, her words heartfelt as she ran her hand across the tattered leather cover. “I’m coming to visit tomorrow,” she said.

Gran gave her a weak smile. “I can’t wait to see you.”

“I’ll get there first thing in the morning, okay?”

“Well, at eight, one of my nurses comes in to take my vitals. She’s a chatter, bless her heart, and you won’t get a word in edgewise. Better come at nine.”

Hannah grinned. “Okay, Gran.”

“I hope you have a lovely birthday,” Gran told her. The picture was starting to shake, betraying her trembling hand as she held the phone. Her weariness was showing. “I’m going to go now so I can rest, all right?”

“No problem. I just wanted you to see me unwrap the gift—and to say thank you for the fudge swirl cake.” Hannah pushed away more tears.

“Ah, you’re welcome. And Hannah?”

“Yes?”

“Your mama knows how to make it now, okay?”

Hannah swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. All she could do was nod. But then she mustered the strength and forced the words out. “You’re gonna teach me, though,” she told Gran. A tear escaped down Hannah’s cheek and she quickly swiped it away.

“I’m sorry, excuse me,” Liam said with a catch in his voice. He left the room.

“Stop at the shop on your way to see me tomorrow, okay?” Gran said. “Make sure you fill any orders on the online system.”

“I will,” Hannah assured her, knowing there probably weren’t any orders. It didn’t matter now. She’d stop by if Gran wanted her to.

“All right, dear. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Hannah said goodbye to Gran and handed her mother the phone, taking a minute to get herself together. She took in long breaths and let them out, trying to make the aching in her chest subside. When she’d collected herself, she asked her parents, “Mind if I check on Liam? I’m worried that we made him uncomfortable with the call.”

“Not at all,” Chuck said.

Hannah left the kitchen and roamed the bungalow, finally seeing him through the glass front door. He was sitting on the step outside, his back to her. She opened the door and ventured out into the cold, folding her arms in a feeble attempt to keep warm. He turned around.

“I’m sorry to have gotten so emotional just then,” she said.

But he immediately shook his head. “It’s totally fine. I just needed a minute.” His face didn’t say the same. It looked heavy with thoughts.

“Wanna tell me what you’re thinking about?” she asked, feeling bold after sharing such an intimate moment with Gran in front of Liam.

“There’s nothing to tell,” he said matter-of-factly. “That’s just it: nothing. There’s nothing at all.”

She sat down beside him, hugging her knees for warmth. “Okay, with all those ‘nothings’ you just said, you implied that there’s definitely something.”

His phone went off and he opened up an email. Whatever it was caused him to change course, standing up and zipping his coat. “Hey, I have something to do for work. Mind if I step out for a while?”

“No problem.” She didn’t want to press him anyway if he wasn’t going to tell her whatever was going on. She had enough worries of her own.

“Thanks.” He took his keys from his coat pocket and headed down the steps, leaving Hannah there in a flash.

As his car pulled out of the drive, Hannah went back inside, wondering what all that was about.

“Where’s Liam?” Maura asked.

“He had to leave for something with work.” His quick exit was reminiscent of the rush of the career she’d been swept up in back in New York. She wouldn’t ever allow herself to get that caught up in work again. She went over to the table and picked up Gran’s journal and her new sweater. “I’m going to go take these to my room and have a look at them,” she said.

Maura smiled sympathetically at her daughter. “Sounds good,” she said.

Once she was settled in her room, Hannah opened the journal, interested to learn what Gran had wanted her to know.





Eleven





Hannah lay on her belly and gripped the journal Gran had given her. With a deep breath, she inhaled Gran’s unique scent of lilac and powder that saturated the room, and read the first lines of Gran’s familiar swooping script.