The Memory Keeper: A Heartwarming, Feel-Good Romance(81)
“Oh my gracious!” He set the dog down. “You’re staying here in Franklin?”
“Yes.” A warm wave of affection for her loved ones, for the shop, and the town she’d grown up in, washed over her. “I’ll be able to take it over and Gran will enjoy it for the rest of her life.”
Chuck’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Hannah, that’s the best thing I’ve heard. Gran will be over the moon.” He gave her a big bear hug. “I love you, honey,” he said.
“I love you too,” she told him. Then she sat up. “It’ll be sunset in about an hour. If we want to stage the bouquets for photos, we should probably get a move on.”
Hannah and Georgia had taken some gorgeously artistic images at sunset. They’d photographed their little bouquets in front of horses lingering in meadows of wildflowers, old silos and red barns, rope swings hanging from trees, farmhouses tucked into the hillsides, with the purple peaks on the horizon forming a backdrop against the vibrantly striped sky. The printing company had done Hannah a favor and said that if she sent them the images tonight, they could have them all done by 9 a.m., just in time to set them up for display at 10 a.m.
Georgia was in her room with Jerry, and Hannah had finally taken the time to email Amanda and congratulate her on the promotion. Afterwards, she decided to take advantage of the mild temperatures March had brought in by sitting outside in one of the rockers on Gran’s back porch, which was becoming one of her favorite places to unwind. She’d brought out the yellow blanket Gran used whenever she sat out there to cover her legs, and settled in with Gran’s journal. What a wonderful life her grandmother had built for herself here.
The three-and-a-half-year gap in entries between the one she’d last read and the next one caught her eye.
June 5, 1947
Hello, Journal, my oldest confidant. I haven’t written in years, choosing to spend my free time with Warren, building the amazing life we have in lieu of jotting down my thoughts. So much has happened since the proposal I told you about last. Warren and I moved to Nashville, and in moving here, I just know I’ve found who I was born to be. Warren has made quite a few friends in the music industry through his job here, and one of them let us get married in his lavish historical home, an old estate on 3,000 acres with marble fireplaces and crystal chandeliers in every room! I felt like a princess. We danced into the night, mingled with new friends, and drank French champagne, which I’d never had before. It was an absolute gas. What I’ve never told anyone until writing it down this minute is that I thought of Charles that night. Just once. I realized how different my life would’ve been if he had come home from the war and married me. The thought made me feel terribly guilty. Being a housewife back in Kentucky was absolutely what I’d wanted back then, and it would have been an honorable life, and even a happy one. However, it wouldn’t have been the life I was meant for… I hadn’t even been looking for this life; I’d say it found me. And I’m so glad it did.
Gran got her happy ending. Hannah flipped through the rest of the journal, the other pages empty. They may have been blank, but Hannah knew how much had come after that last documented moment.
She listened to the crickets singing in the nearby woods. Her life was feeling more like that happy ending with every day she stayed in her hometown, but she couldn’t deny the hole in her path, the empty spot where Liam had been. She kept telling herself that maybe it was hitting her hard because they had such a connection to this place together, but in the back of her mind, she felt like it was something more. Hannah fidgeted with the pendant Liam had given her, remembering the way his arms had felt around her that night. Tomorrow was their last day together and then he’d be heading home with Noah, taking a piece of her with him. She’d miss Noah so much. She adored him. Perhaps she could go see the little boy when he visited Mary…
She closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the rocking chair, thinking.
Without warning, something thumped into her lap, startling her, her eyes flying open to find a purring black cat. It snuggled into the blanket as she sat there, stunned.
“Speckles?” she whispered.
The cat meowed.
“Oh my goodness,” she said, stroking the cat as it purred. “You’ve been looking for Gran, haven’t you?” Hannah asked, relieved. “Have you been getting your milk?”
The cat meowed again.
“Gran will be so happy to hear about you,” she said. “She should be coming home soon, you know.”
Hannah set the journal down on the table beside her and stroked the cat, rocking back and forth like Gran had done so many times when Hannah was growing up. As she looked out at the tree-lined yard, holding that sweet cat, she felt the serenity Gran must have felt sitting there. What a wonderful feeling it was.
Thirty
“How’s my favorite person in the world?” Hannah asked, as she set down the oversized bouquet of fresh tulips on the counter of Gran’s hospital room. She’d made the arrangement this morning to celebrate Gran’s discharge, after she and Georgia had set up everything for the festival.
“I’m doing well,” Gran said, pushing herself into a sitting position. She had on her pink cardigan set rather than the hospital gown, giving Hannah a fizzle of happiness. “I walked down to the cafeteria this morning unassisted.”