The Memory Keeper: A Heartwarming, Feel-Good Romance(55)
“I never knew that it was Minnie who first danced with Gran. What a wonderful woman she seemed to be for my grandmother. When I was a little girl, Gran and I used to dance around the shop to this song. I guess I can thank Minnie for that.”
Twenty
Hannah and Georgia closed up the shop and headed home in the dark of night. They’d worked like crazy to get everything straight, and The Memory Keeper was as neat as a pin and ready for cleaning and painting tomorrow. They had organized the paperwork, called a landscaping company who’d be there tomorrow, researched a couple of painters to get quotes, and weeded the sidewalk outside. While they were out there, they’d spent a long time planning other ways to spruce up the exterior.
When they’d gotten back to Gran’s house and had dinner, Georgia took Jerry outside, and Hannah was just helping her mother finish cleaning the kitchen when her phone lit up with a text from Liam: Sorry it’s so late. I was wondering if you’d talk to Noah. Could you do a video call with him?
She texted back: Of course. Although it was an odd request at such an hour—it was nearly 8 p.m. After a very long day, she was ready to shower, get her pajamas on, and settle in for the night.
Her phone vibrated, so she answered it as she made her way back to Gran’s room. Liam’s face surfaced on the screen. “I’m sorry again, but my mom’s gone out tonight for the benefit I told you about. It’s just Noah and me. He doesn’t want me to read his bedtime story. He said he wanted me to call you and have you read it.”
“What?” The idea of Noah asking for her gave her an unexpected flutter of happiness.
“He’s actually teary-eyed over it. If I text you the words, will you read them to him while I turn the pages?”
“Bedtime stories can’t be read over a phone,” she said. “Why don’t I just come over and read it to him?”
“You sure you wouldn’t mind?”
“Not at all. I need to jump in the shower really quickly, though. I’ve been cleaning the shop all day.”
“No problem. I’ll text you the address.” His face turned away from the screen. “Noah, Hannah’s coming over to read your story to you, okay?” He turned his phone to show Noah, whose bottom lip was wobbling.
“I’ll be there in just a bit,” she told him.
Noah nodded.
“See you soon,” Liam said.
Right when she ended the call, an email came in from Amanda. Here are the articles for the spread…
Hannah ignored it for the time being, and after a quick shower she headed off to see Liam and Noah.
Taking stock of her surroundings, Hannah pulled her dad’s truck onto the shoulder of the winding country road and checked the navigation one more time. There was nothing but farmland on either side for as far as she could see, but the navigation kept telling her she’d arrived at her location.
She looked ahead of her, and way down the street she made out a lone mailbox. Could that be it? Hannah put the old truck in gear and headed down toward it. When she arrived at the mailbox, she put down the window, the cool air rushing in, and squinted to see what was at the end of the single-lane dirt drive, but it was so dark that her headlights didn’t give her enough light.
She put the truck in park and tapped on her phone, describing where she was and asking Liam if she was at the right place.
He returned, You’re here. Come on down the drive. The house is a couple miles off the road.
Hannah turned in and bumped her way down the long lane, past the fields and through the trees, slowing to look at their massive trunks stretching into the heavens, their barren branches like arms reaching over her. Rows of crops lined the path for as far as her headlights could reach, each field boasting its wares with adorably painted wooden signs on the edges—lettuce, cauliflower, pumpkins, cucumbers… She continued all the way to a mass of gorgeous ancient oak trees that picked up where the fields left off, lining the path in single file. At the very end, she thought she could make out the hint of an old farmhouse. She was willing to bet that with the coming spring, the leaves would create a shady canopy above the path. Eventually, the colossal farmhouse came into view and Hannah gasped.
The stunning structure was obviously historical, with two chimneys on either side of the tin roof. Rocking chairs dotted its wide front porch that wrapped around three sides of the house, and all she could think was how much Gran would love this old house… Could she use photos of it for the magazine?
The front door swung open and Noah came out, standing on the porch in railroad pajamas and sock feet. As Hannah shut off the engine and got out, Liam joined Noah to greet her.
“My goodness, I’m cold just looking at you in your socks out here on the porch,” Hannah teased the little boy, dropping the keys into her handbag as Liam opened the door wider to allow her inside.
The interior of the home had been renovated—no house built in that time period had an open floor plan with a wall of French doors leading to a covered back porch capped by a stone fireplace. The ceilings in the main room that housed the kitchen, den, and dining areas were vaulted and striped with exposed beams jutting from one wall to the other.
The kitchen matched the living area—everything done in whitewashed wood with dark-blue accents. An old metal retailer sign listing various vegetables and their prices leaned stylishly against the corner next to the oversized farmhouse table.