Chapter 22
IT TURNED OUT THAT ANITA was the one who didn’t sleep much. She lay awake until at least midnight, then seemed to stir every hour.
“Sleep well?” Wyatt asked when she covered her mouth to stifle a second yawn as they walked to the car the following morning.
“Oh, sorry,” she said with a sheepish smile. “I feel like I was awake all night. Have you ever had that happen?”
“Sure,” he said. “Good thing I’m driving.”
“Yeah, and thanks for that. I’ll have to get something caffeinated later on.” Anita decided she liked Wyatt first thing in the morning. He wasn’t overly peppy, or dragging either; he was just himself. Oh, and he looked good in a pair of 501s and a polo shirt.
“Well, if you need a nap after our meeting with Susan, we can take a break.”
“I’ll let you know.”
“I slept like a baby,” Sam announced, his walker’s wheels clattering on the asphalt as they walked. “Like a baby with a full stomach, enjoying happy dreams.”
Carly laughed. “Babies usually wake up crying in the middle of the night. Why is ‘sleeping like a baby’ even a saying?”
“I think it’s because babies can sleep through a lot of noise,” he said. “At least when they’re young. I remember Wyatt’s mother—she could sleep through anything. Unless she didn’t want to. Wyatt, on the other hand, would wake at the smallest of sounds.”
Wyatt helped his grandpa into the car, then shut the door. He turned to Anita. “Don’t believe everything he says.”
She smiled. “Are you a light sleeper?”
“I can be.” He shrugged. “Last night I think I slept a lot better than you.”
Anita was battling another yawn. “How can you tell?”
Wyatt smirked, then squeezed her hand and moved around to the other side of the car.
“Here we go,” Sam announced to the car at large. “We’re about to meet my first love.” He cleared his throat. “Be it known to everyone that I loved my wife Norma more than life itself.”
“Thanks, Gramps,” Wyatt said.
“I was wondering about that,” Carly said brightly. “Can you love two women in a lifetime?”
“I think so, but for me, it was two different loves,” Sam said. “With Susan, I loved her and our hope for the future. With Norma, I loved her and our life together—which was my present, then became my future. When you live and work and sacrifice with another person, your love deepens to a level that’s hard to explain. I think with Susan, my affection for her was more in what-ifs.”
“That’s really deep, Sam,” Carly said.
He grinned, and Wyatt laughed. “It is really deep, but probably accurate.”
“Wyatt, here, loved a woman,” Sam said, patting his shoulder. “The love wasn’t deep enough to last, though.”
Wyatt glanced at Anita. “Uh, thanks, Gramps. That’s true too.”
She only smiled, then she took his hand.
“Is that how it was with Dad?” Carly asked her.
“Oh.” A spark of panic rushed through her. “I think your dad and I had different opinions of what marriage meant. We definitely loved each other, but we were interested in different futures.”
“I guess love and relationships are a lot more than just feelings? They’re actions too,” Carly said.
“I think you’re the smartest teenager I know,” Sam said.
“And maybe the only one you know?” She laughed.
Wyatt slowed the car and stopped at the curb of a small house with white shutters and planters filled with flowers on the front porch. “This must be it.”
“It’s cute,” Carly said.
He turned off the engine and looked back at his grandpa, who was staring out the car window.
After a long moment of silence, Sam said, “I’m ready.”
Wyatt climbed out of the car and opened his door to help him out. Anita grabbed the folded-up walker and handed it over.
With a trembling hand, Sam grasped the handles. He didn’t protest when Wyatt held on to his other arm as they walked toward the house. Carly and Anita followed, and she had to tell herself to breathe.
Once they were all on the porch, Wyatt rang the doorbell, and then they waited.
Any moment now...The door finally creaked open, and there stood a woman who had to be Susan’s daughter. Anita guessed the blonde woman to be around fifty years old, with some silver threaded through her short hairstyle.
“Lila?” Wyatt asked. “I’m Wyatt Davis, and this is my grandfather Sam.”
Lila’s mouth was set in a firm line, but her light blue eyes were plenty curious. Her gaze took in the four visitors, then she opened the door wider.
“I’m Anita,” Anita offered, “and this is my daughter Carly.”
Lila nodded. “Wyatt said you’d all be coming.” She stepped back. “Well, come on in. My mother’s been talking nonstop about Sam, so we might as well get this meeting started.”
“Hang on to me, Wyatt,” he said. “I’ll leave the walker out here.”
They went into the house. Anita glanced around, wondering where Susan was. The woman wasn’t in sight, though. The interior was mostly blues and pinks, likely the favorite color of one of the women in the house.
“This way,” Lila said. “We’re set up on the back patio. Mother likes to watch the birds and butterflies. She’ll stay out there all day if I let her.”
They continued through the kitchen, where a couple of Crock Pots were steaming away. They smelled delicious. But at this moment, Anita didn’t think she could eat a thing. Not when her stomach was in knots of anticipation.
Lila stepped onto the back patio first, followed by Wyatt and Sam.
A round table had been set with bowls, glasses, and utensils. In the middle of the table was a flower arrangement that nearly blocked the view of a petite elderly lady sitting in a chair. The woman’s hair was a snowy white, but her blue eyes were as bright as her daughter’s. It was clear she’d put some effort into her appearance, since her lips and cheeks were a soft pink.
Her expression looked as if it were caught between a smile and surprise.
“Susan,” Sam said, the word more like a question.
She set a liver-spotted hand on the table’s edge and pushed up to a standing position. “Sam, is that you?”
Sam broke away from Wyatt’s grasp and moved around the table toward her. He reached out a hand, and Susan grasped it, hers trembling and his more steady.
“I can’t believe you look the same,” she said.
Sam chuckled. “I’ve changed quite a bit. It’s you who looks the same.”
Susan’s cheeks flushed, and she touched her white hair. “This has changed.”
He lifted his gaze to her hair. “I always knew you were a blonde.”
Susan tightened her hold on his hand because they were still clasped. “You always teased me. I see that hasn’t changed.”
He shook his head slowly. “I got your postcard.”
“I was hoping you would,” Susan said. “I waited, you know, until the obituary came out.”
“Norma’s?” Surprise was clear in his tone.
She nodded, and then her eyes filled with tears.
“Oh, Susan . . .”
Still holding her hand, Sam guided her to sit back down, and he settled into the chair next to her. It was like no one else was around, and they were having a private conversation.
“I know I shouldn’t have been pining all these years,” she said, taking a napkin from the table and dabbing at her eyes. “I tried to move on and let you go. I really did.”
Sam’s forehead creased into a frown. “I thought you were in love and that you were happy to marry your sweetheart. Your announcement was the last letter I ever received from you.” He drew in a breath. “I kept writing, you know, just to wish you all the best and to ask for any updates. No more letters came, though. And once I married Norma, I decided that was that.”
She nodded, looking down at their clasped hands. “I was too late . . . I waited too long . . .”
“What are you talking about?” Sam asked. “What were you too late for?”
Suddenly, Susan seemed to notice they weren’t alone and had a rather captive audience. She looked across the table. “Who do we have here?”
Wyatt cleared his throat. “My name is Wyatt, and I’m Sam’s grandson. These are our friends, Anita and her daughter Carly.”
“Welcome,” Susan said with a gracious smile, as if she hadn’t just been tearful. “Make yourselves at home and have a seat. Lila can bring in the soups. We know you’ve had a long drive.”
“Oh, I can help Lila,” Anita said immediately, although she kind of wanted to stay and hear any conversation between Susan and Sam.
Lila waved her off, though. “You stay and hear what Susan has to say. Maybe you can help with cleanup.”
She hesitated. “If you’re sure.”
Lila gave her a brief smile, then nodded. “Of course I’m sure, or I wouldn’t have suggested it.” She hurried away before Anita could reply.
Wyatt held out a chair for her to sit down. Carly had already helped herself to the seat on the other side of Sam.
Susan watched them with bright eyes. “Are you married? Dating?”
“Us?” Anita said. “No, we’re friends. That’s all.”
Wyatt nudged her knee with his knee. She nudged him back. “We are friends, but that’s not all,” he said.
Anita gaped at him, but Susan just continued to smile. “Young love is wonderful.” She released a wistful sigh, then reached for the glass at her place setting.
“Let me fill that for you,” Sam said, when she realized it was empty. He reached for the pitcher of ice water and filled her glass.
“Thank you, Sam,” she said, taking a sip, then setting the glass down. “Now, tell me about your children and grandchildren.”
Sam blinked as if he were trying to clear his thoughts. “Wyatt and his sister Paula are what’s left of my posterity.”
“Oh, I thought you had more...” Her voice trailed off.
“No,” Sam said. “Norma couldn’t have any more children after our daughter was born.”
Susan gave a slow nod. “I’m sorry to hear that. The town was gossipy about that when I returned. Said you had to get married on account of knocking her up.” She laughed, her cheeks flushed. “But knowing what kind of man you were, I was not surprised. You’d never run from your mistakes.”
“It wasn’t a mistake,” Sam said in a quiet voice, but it resonated across the patio.
Lila stepped outside just then, carrying two bowls of steaming soup.
Wyatt moved to his feet to take them from her. Lila didn’t return inside, though. Instead, she remained to listen.
“I didn’t mean that, Sam,” Susan corrected. “I just meant the gossip—”
He lifted a hand. “The gossips didn’t know anything.” He cast a glance at Wyatt. “Norma became pregnant by another man—her boyfriend at the time. He ditched her, and well...I married her and adopted her daughter.”
Anita was pretty sure this was new information to not only Susan, but to Wyatt himself. His whole body stilled as he stared at his grandpa.
“Gramps?” he said in a strained voice. “What are you talking about?”
Sam turned his head to look at him. “I married your grandmother so that her child would be legitimate. I cared for Norma very much, and over the months and years, I grew to love her deeply.”
Wyatt rubbed at his jaw. “You’re not . . . my grandfather by blood?”
Sam shook his head slowly, then reached for Wyatt’s arm. “Your mother was my daughter in every other way possible. Her biological father tried to visit once when she was a few months old, then disappeared again. He never actually saw her in person.”
Wyatt exhaled. “That’s a pretty major thing to keep from me my entire life.”
“I understand how you might think that, but in my generation, we kept things private.”
Wyatt closed his eyes for a moment, and Anita grasped his hand.
“You married Norma to save her reputation?” Susan said, her voice incredulous.
Sam turned his attention back to her. “Norma and I were good friends, and you had already written me about your engagement. It didn’t cross my mind that I wasn’t doing the right thing by moving forward with my life.”
Susan reached a trembling hand for her glass of water. After another sip, she said, “I came back, Sam. I saw the two of you in that old diner. You were sitting close to her on the same side of the booth, your arm around her. She laughed at something you said, and then you kissed her.” She drew in a breath. “I left after seeing you together, and that’s when I heard the two of you were engaged.”
“I didn’t know you came back,” Sam said. He was the one surprised now. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Susan shrugged, and tears filled her eyes. “I guess I wanted to surprise you. I broke off the engagement, and I wrote to you about it. You never replied. A few weeks later, I decided to throw all caution to the wind and return. It had been so long anyway, and I wanted closure, I guess. But I also hoped that maybe things between us could work out after all.”
Sam’s shoulders sagged.
“But now I realize, even if I had walked into the diner that night...you still would have chosen Norma.”
The conflict in his gaze wrenched at Anita’s emotions. This was all so much...and she could only imagine what Wyatt was feeling with such a shocking revelation.
“Susan...” Sam began, his voice cracking with emotion. “I never received that letter about your canceled engagement.” He released a shuddering breath. “And I can’t say what decision I might have made if I had received the letter, but if there’s anything I’ve learned in more than eighty years of living, it’s that the past can’t be changed. We can only move forward.”
Susan dabbed at a fresh round of tears. “You never received my letter?”
“No, and I don’t understand why not.”
She heaved. “My father was furious that I canceled the engagement. Now I wonder...if he never posted my letters to you. I’d leave them in the basket of outgoing mail.”
Sam and Susan were both quiet for a long moment. Anita was pretty sure the soup Lila had brought out was cold now, but no one seemed to care.
“What did you do after you left Seattle?” Sam finally asked in a quiet voice.
“I went back home and faced the wrath of my father,” Susan said. “I’d spent all my savings on that trip—it was meant to go toward my wedding.” She gave a little shrug. “A few months later, Clyde started coming around again, and we ended up getting married.”
Lila headed back into the house.
“And your kids and grandkids?” Sam prodded gently.
“Two children,” she said. “Lila and Clyde Jr. The marriage wasn’t...great.” She cast a furtive look toward the house, where Lila had disappeared. “Clyde enjoyed his drinking. He died at fifty-four, and I was widowed. No interest in remarrying after that.”
“I’m sorry for your pain,” Sam said.
“I went back to Seattle for a few weeks about ten years ago,” Susan said. “I visited all the old haunts, looked up some former friends, but never had the courage to knock on your door. I figured you didn’t want to see a ghost from the past. I even heard about Norma’s health problems, and I selfishly checked obituaries from time to time.”
Sam didn’t act shocked or bothered. “I suppose curiosity can get the best of us.”
She nodded, her smile faint. “Norma was a lucky woman, and I...I could have done things differently. I could have returned to Seattle much sooner. Or made an effort to meet you somehow after the Spanish flu danger was over. I could have turned down Clyde. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on my children, though. They’ve been my comfort through everything.”
Lila was back with more bowls of soup, this time balancing them on a tray.
Wyatt moved to his feet to help.
“Lunch is served,” she said softly.
Anita wondered how much Lila had known about all of this—at least on her mother’s side. Now, she knew Sam’s side.
“Children, however they come, are always a blessing,” he said.
“Amen,” Carly said. “Now can we eat? I’m starving.”
Anita stifled a laugh—she couldn’t help it. Apparently Carly hadn’t been entranced like everyone else.
“Help yourself,” Susan said. “All this emotional stuff has made me ravenous.”
Sam gave her a tender smile, then the two of them began to eat the soup.