The Memory Keeper: A Heartwarming, Feel-Good Romance(61)
Hannah had left Georgia in her room, searching online for leads on her parents.
Hannah had attempted to see her grandmother on the way home, but Gran had been asleep when she’d stopped by, so Hannah didn’t stay. Her mom and dad were out getting groceries, and Hannah found herself alone. Needing to hear Gran’s voice, she pulled out the journal and settled in.
August 16, 1943
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I walked into Beaty’s Drugstore after so long. Warren was sitting at our usual spot at the soda fountain, reading his book with two Cokes in front of him. I surprised him, coming up behind him. “Thirsty?” I teased, while also wondering for whom he’d bought the second Coke. When he turned around, I could hardly breathe when I saw his smile. No one has ever smiled at me like that before. It seemed as though he were going to jump up and hug me. The soda clerk made Warren’s cheeks go pink when he told me that Warren had bought two Cokes every day for the last month and a half, waiting for me to come back. We talked forever. I told him about Charles because I knew he would understand. I also told him about dancing with Minnie and how it lifted my spirits so much. We talked so long that I drank the Coke he bought me and even used Minnie’s nickel for a second!
August 18, 1943
I’ve been learning how to make all kinds of beautiful bouquets with Minnie. I meet her before I go to work at the metal factory and we make all the bouquets for the day together. She says I surprised her with how well I could choose flowers and that one day I will end up putting her out of business. I’d never do that.
It was so great that Gran had found out what she was good at doing at such a young age, and that she’d had a mentor in Minnie. Hannah had learned the ropes all by herself—no one understood her job, and sometimes it did feel lonely. She definitely didn’t dance around her office, that was for sure. The deadlines could be taxing, and she couldn’t always get her colleagues to see eye-to-eye with her, but she enjoyed the creativity of it.
Her phone pinged with an email. It was Amanda. If only the magazine spread could be as uncomplicated as making a bouquet of flowers. She opened the message to read: Hi Hannah, sorry to bother you again but Rich is asking to see the draft layout… Help!
Rich Baldwin was Hannah’s boss. She set down the journal and decided it was time to read the articles Amanda had sent over, and figure out what to do. She knew it would only send her into hours of thinking and puzzling over how to make everything fit, but she had to face it. Hannah opened her laptop and pulled up the articles for the feature.
She began to read, and as her eyes moved along the words on her screen, relief like she’d never felt before washed over her. “These are all talking about families and the culture of farm life,” she said in a whisper. “So I need to get photos of a family…” Hannah needed a professional photographer quickly, and she needed a family. She looked up from her computer, knowing exactly where she could get both and wondering if it could be possible. She sent an email to Amanda: I’ve got an idea for the spread! Sit tight! Then she pulled out a pad of paper and got to work.
Twenty-Two
The southern weather at this time of year could tantalize with a warm day of mild breeze and spring-like sunshine, and then snatch it all away the next day with gray tormenting skies and a debilitating snowstorm. This morning was one of the good days. The sun was bright in an electric-blue sky, melting the snow and making everything feel like magic. Hannah had gotten up early and was already at The Memory Keeper, on a ladder, putting the finishing touches on the freshly painted white wall as a beam of sunlight stretched across her path.
“Wow, you move fast,” Georgia said, walking through the door with two cups of coffee and a paper sack from the local coffee shop in each hand, and Jerry in her shoulder bag.
Georgia had planned to do a couple of interviews with town historians to see if they knew anything about her parents, but she’d come to The Memory Keeper first with Hannah.
“When I left, you’d just started painting, and now you’ve almost finished that wall.”
“Just the one coat,” Hannah said from atop the ladder. She’d decided to paint all the walls bright white and then add color using flowers, just like she’d envisioned when she and Georgia had first discussed it. The more time she spent in the shop, the calmer she felt. It was definitely a challenge, but working there was peaceful and comforting.
“It already looks so much fresher and newer in here.” Georgia set the coffees down on the clean counter in the center of the room and let Jerry out of his bag. He pitter-pattered across the shop floor, sniffing the boxes of flowers.
“I know.” Hannah leaned back and admired her work.
As she climbed down the ladder, she caught sight of something black darting past the back-door window. She paced over quietly and looked out, hoping it was Speckles. She’d love nothing more than to see the jet-black cat, lapping up the milk she’d put out for it. But when she got to the window, whatever it was had gone, the milk still there.
“I haven’t seen the stray cat Speckles that Gran has befriended at all since I’ve arrived home, and I know Gran’s going to ask,” she worried aloud. “I want to be able to tell her she’s just fine. It would be such a good feeling.”