The Memory Keeper: A Heartwarming, Feel-Good Romance(5)
Hannah continued to dial the rental companies anyway, over and over, unable to get a single person on the phone. Slowly, she put her cell down in her lap and let the tears come. How could everything have gone so wrong? Think, she told herself. But as she looked around at the pandemonium, she just felt bewildered.
Unsure of what she was even doing, Hannah got up and began walking, hoping a new idea would come to her. Some people had spread coats and blankets on the floor, making beds for the night. A woman nursed her fussing baby, rocking her while looking around dazed. Two toddlers ran in circles, playing and chasing each other while their parents were lost in conversation, alarm on their faces. Others were chirping madly into their phones and tapping on laptops. Airlines passed out snacks and offered sodas and bottles of water. Travelers barked at service desk employees, frustrated, while the desk clerks attempted to calm them down. The more Hannah paced, the more she understood that everyone was stuck; no one was getting out of there. It was total chaos.
As she resigned herself to the fact that she wasn’t going anywhere, Hannah leaned against a large window, trying not to totally break down. She noticed some people had made signs with their destinations, in an attempt to find other passengers going to the same place. In surrender, with no other options that she could think of, she found an open spot on the floor where she could put her bags against the wall behind her and take a seat. She decided it couldn’t hurt to make a sign—she could at least try like the others. She pulled out a pad of paper from her carry-on and wrote “Franklin, Tennessee” in big letters on it, setting it beside her on the floor. It occurred to her that Liam might be going to the same place, and for a while she watched the passers-by to see if she could locate him, but it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Hannah’s feet were tired and her head pounded from stress. She closed her eyes and tried to drum up happy thoughts. She imagined walking in through the glass-paned front door of Gran’s little blue bungalow with her grandmother’s signature red seasonal flowers flanking the entryway, passing the porch swing full of pillows, the buttery glow of evening lamplight illuminating the front hallway, the quiet shifting sound as the old woman moved around the kitchen while she danced to vintage music she had playing, and the sugary vanilla scent of her snickerdoodle cookies when she carried them to the back porch overlooking the lush green yard. She conjured up Gran’s soft movements as she settled with Hannah on one of her white rocking chairs, draping a blanket over her legs… Hannah squeezed her eyes tightly to keep in the tears, but they spilled down her cheeks anyway.
Then suddenly, tearing her away from her thoughts, she was aware of someone standing beside her, and she quickly wiped her face. When she tipped her head up, she pulled back, surprised and relieved to see Liam. He had the same green eyes with flecks of gold in them that she remembered from when they were young.
“Hannah?” he asked, looking even wearier than she did.
She nodded as she blinked at him through her wet eyelashes. Every time she attempted to clear the tears, more came.
He stood quietly next to her. Even though it was awkward with her crying, it felt comforting to have him there; it made her feel as though she wasn’t so alone. When her tears slowed, he squatted down next to her, obviously unsure of how to approach her. He cleared his throat, and then out of nowhere he asked, “Do you remember when we were young, and your friend Morgan refused to swing on that vine over the river because she was too scared to climb up to the rock to grab it?”
“Yeah,” she managed.
“Remember what you told her?”
She shook her head.
“I still remember it. You said, ‘Sometimes, you have to push yourself through the hard stuff to be able to enjoy the fun stuff.’” When he said this, there was a power behind his look that made her wonder if he’d learned that advice firsthand somewhere along the way.
She grinned through her emotions. “My gran used to tell me that. It’s funny, she’s always so positive about everything that I have to wonder if she ever faced ‘hard stuff.’ I know she must have, but it’s difficult to imagine.” Her lip started to wobble at the mention of her grandmother.
She turned toward him, his face returning to a melancholy expression. He seemed so different now from the boy she’d known back home. That boy had been fearless, laughing all the time, quick-witted, and confident. Now, he seemed serious, grounded, focused.
“Your gran gave wise advice,” he said.
Her mind went to a memory of Gran twirling around her flower shop, nestled out of the way and down a side street, popping chocolates into her mouth as she pulled flowers from their buckets for an arrangement she was making, music from the old record player filling the air. A woman had come in through the double glass-paned antique doors, the bells jingling to alert Gran to a visitor—her old friend. “Oh, hello, Darlene!” she said, setting down her flowers to pull out a pitcher of iced tea so she could offer Darlene some. She handed Darlene the beverage, and the two of them boogied like a couple of schoolgirls before Darlene finally put in her order for a basket of wildflowers to take to her book club.
When Darlene left, Gran had said, “Darlene’s been feeling lonely since she lost her job and had to take on one she doesn’t really love. She joined the book club to find a little joy. And I made her smile today. There’s nothing dancing can’t solve.” She laughed as she grabbed Hannah’s teenage hands and gave her a spin. “Most of our problems are of this world—they’re created by us—when really our souls just long to sing and dance. When we do that, we become ourselves again, and we rise above whatever worries us. But we have to get through the hard stuff first. That’s how we see good—when we can compare it to the bad.” Despite how wise she was, Gran always seemed so young for her age, her skin glowing, her eyes vibrant and happy. She could melt all Hannah’s fears in an instant.