Chapter Sixteen #2
“I’ll have the triple-threat hot fudge sundae, please,” Hannah said. “With scoops of rocky road, coffee, and butter pecan. Oh, and extra whipped cream.” She tipped her chin and cocked an eyebrow. “Beat that.”
I straightened up in my seat and turned to Kayla and said, “And I’ll have the five-alive sundae with scoops of strawberry cheesecake, pistachio, black raspberry, almond fudge ripple, and banana, also with extra whipped cream and hot fudge.”
“Impressive.” Hannah raised her eyebrows innocently as if she hadn’t just issued a challenge.
Kayla grinned and glanced down at Dude and said, “Would you like a scoop of our special peanut butter frozen treat for good doggies?”
Hannah glanced down at Dude. “Yes, please. I will never be forgiven if I neglect him.”
“Excellent. I’ll put your order in.”
Kayla left and Dude, looking forlorn, watched her go. I patted his head. “Don’t worry, she’ll be back.”
Dude licked my wrist and settled down to wait.
I glanced around the patio and wondered when was the last time Gramps and Pops had been here. Had this been their special place? And given Gramps’s poor health at the end, did they know on their last visit that it would be their last? Ugh. That went dark fast. I shook my head.
“What are you thinking about?” Hannah asked.
I thought about not telling her, but realized she was the only person who might understand. “Gramps died due to complications of kidney failure. He knew his time was limited. I was wondering if he knew on his last visit to the Scoop that it would be—” I hesitated but Hannah finished my thought.
“His last?”
“Yeah.” We were both quiet for a beat. “What caused Pops’s passing?”
Hannah frowned. She glanced down and ran her finger over the brightly painted tabletop.
“He didn’t have a preexisting condition, if that’s what you mean.
” She glanced up and her eyes were filled with sadness when she said, “During his final months, he just seemed to give up the will to live and then one night, he went to bed and didn’t wake up. ”
“Was there an autopsy?” I felt like a ghoul for asking but I had a theory that I wanted to avoid saying if I was wrong.
“There was and they couldn’t find anything wrong with him.” Hannah’s voice wavered a bit. “They said his heart gave out but they couldn’t find a reason for it.”
“Do you think he died of a broken heart?”
She glanced up at me, blinking back some tears. “It never occurred to me until I got here. But after learning about his relationship with Gramps, I think maybe he did.”
Kayla returned with our ice cream. Mine looked like a fishbowl stuffed with ice cream, making Hannah’s seem dainty in comparison. Dude got a paper cup with one big scoop, which Hannah held while he attempted to lick it clean.
I picked up my spoon and tucked into the dish, thinking about Gramps’s final days.
He’d been failing for some time but refused to give up his weekends at his fishing sanctuary and now I knew why.
This was where his real family was. I felt a pang of hurt and recognized it as the same thing Hannah had felt when we looked at their wedding album.
Gramps had returned home to attend one of his former company’s parties. It was always a lavish shindig as Pete Billings, his former partner and my current boss, enjoyed celebrating what he called “the company’s wins” in his massive mansion in Raleigh.
In the middle of the party, Gramps had called me over to sit with him. I was happy to as other than Charlie and Lor, he was the only person I genuinely liked at the party.
He handed me a stinky cigar and we puffed the pungent smoke out over the veranda as we watched agents and potential clients schmooze their way around the garden like sharks in an aquarium tank, restless, hungry, and looking to make a killing.
“Make me a promise, kid,” Gramps demanded.
“Anything,” I agreed without hesitation.
Gramps pointed to Pete with the tip of his lit cigar and said, “Don’t become that.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Don’t get me wrong. I love Pete. He and I busted our tails to build this business together, but this isn’t for you.
You’re better than this. Get out. Go back to your art and live the life you were meant to have before I pulled you into this business.
” Gramps turned and met my gaze with a steely one of his own.
“You didn’t pull me in,” I protested. “You offered me a career and a steady paycheck.”
“You weren’t supposed to make it your life,” Gramps reminded me. “It was supposed to be temporary.”
I’d felt called out. I knew I’d let go of my passion but I hadn’t really had a choice, which Gramps knew. “You know why I can’t.”
“You can. You just have to want it badly enough.” Gramps turned away and resumed watching the sharks swim.
After the party, on his way to his room, Gramps collapsed.
He was found by the housekeeper and rushed to the hospital, but he never woke up.
I wondered now how Pops had learned of his partner’s passing.
To not be there, to not be the person by his side at the end, had to have been a crushing blow.
Even Gramps’s funeral had been overseen by me and my sister.
Per his request, Gramps had been cremated and placed in the mausoleum beside Granny.
I didn’t even know if Hannah’s Pops had been at the service.
I swallowed a gigantic scoop of ice cream and was immediately punished with a brutal spike of brain freeze. I clapped a hand to my forehead, waiting for the angry throbbing to pass.
“You okay?” Hannah asked.
“No.” I shook my head. “Honestly, I feel unsettled about a lot of things.”
“Such as?” She licked a dollop of hot fudge off her lip and I almost lost my train of thought.
I stuffed a spoonful of banana ice cream into my mouth to regroup. Then I put down my spoon and described the day of Gramps’s death to her. Her brow furrowed and her big blue eyes welled with tears.
“I hate the thought that Gramps and Pops were separated again at the end. I think losing Gramps for a second time was just too much for Pops to bear,” Hannah said. “Maybe they left the house to us so that their love wouldn’t be forgotten.”
“I think you may be right, Spencer.”
When Kayla stopped by to check on us, I borrowed the photograph from Hannah and showed it to her. I asked Kayla if she knew the two men and she shook her head. Not a big surprise, given that the photo was sixty years old.
Hannah took out her phone and showed Kayla a picture she’d taken of the framed photo in the living room.
Kayla’s eyes brightened and she said, “Billy and Bobby? Of course I know them. We all do…did.” Her face fell and she looked crushed.
“I’m sorry. One of our regulars recently told us that they’d both passed.
It’s just so sad. The Scoop won’t be the same this summer without them stopping in for their evening cone. ”
Hannah put her phone down and Kayla reached for the old photo. “Is this the two of them when they were young?”
“Yes,” Hannah said. “We found it in their house.”
“Do you mind if I show it to Tim? He owns the Scoop and I think he’d get a kick out of seeing a picture of the place from so long ago.”
Hannah waved to her sundae and said, “Go ahead. We’ll be here for a while.”
Kayla clasped the photo and turned away. I watched as she ducked back into the ice cream shack. I must have looked worried because Hannah reached across the table and patted my arm. “Don’t worry. I took a photo of the picture with my phone as a backup.”
“Smart.” I scooped in more ice cream.
In moments, a tall red-faced man in a white T-shirt with a red apron and a blue baseball cap on his balding head came out of the building.
Kayla was with him and pointed to our table.
He headed straight for us. At a glance, he looked to be well into his seventies—old enough to have known Gramps and Pops as a youth?
I glanced at Hannah and saw the excitement on her face. She was definitely thinking the same thing.
“Hi, I’m Tim Larson.” The man shook Hannah’s hand and then mine. “I own the Scoop.”
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Hannah said. “I see Kayla showed you the picture.”
“Billy and Bobby. I remember when this photo was taken.” Tim glanced at the photo in his hand.
I slid down my bench and gestured for Tim to sit. Dude immediately pressed his head onto Tim’s knee and the man rubbed Dude’s ears while he talked.
“Summer of ’67,” he said, his voice thick with nostalgia.
“It was the first year my dad let me work full-time and I spent all day every day here. I was trying to save up for a car. Billy and Bobby were two of our regulars. I heard they got into a fight over a fishing spot around the point and the next thing we knew they were inseparable. This place does that to folks.”
“Does what?” I asked.
“Helps people figure out what’s important to them,” Tim said.
“For me, it was easy because I was born and raised here and knew I’d own the Scoop one day.
For other folks, they come here and find the part of themselves that’s been missing.
Not to sound like the local chamber of commerce but there’s no place like summer at the Split. ”
“Do you think that’s why they came back after so many years?” Hannah said. “To find themselves again?”
“I’d say they came back to find each other.” Tim glanced between us as if trying to figure out how we knew Billy and Bobby.
I decided to help him out. “I’m Bobby’s grandson and she’s Billy’s granddaughter.”
“You don’t say.” Tim looked delighted. “I’d heard that they’d both gotten married and had families before…
well…before they came back.” He paused and glanced between us and tapped the picture with his finger.
“It was a different time back then. Young men couldn’t…
follow their hearts so freely as they do now. ”
Hannah and I exchanged a glance. Tim was confirming everything we’d suspected. Our grandfathers had been in love in the summer of ’67 and they’d had to let each other go.
“I want to give you both my condolences.” His voice was gruff when he added, “They were good men and they’ll be sorely missed.”
“Thank you,” Hannah and I said together.
Tim nodded and dabbed at his eyes with the corner of his apron. “I haven’t thought of that mural in years. We painted over it in ’85 after Hurricane Gloria came through. She blasted it so hard, there wasn’t much left.”
“It is a great wall for a mural.” I nodded.
Tim slowly turned to me. “That’s right. You’re an artist. Would you be interested?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hannah’s head turn in my direction. I didn’t look her way. My art career was in the past and I didn’t want to answer any questions about it. Not from her, not from anyone.
“I don’t really do that anymore,” I said.
“What?” Tim pushed his baseball hat back on his head and a frown wrinkled his brow. “That’s a shame. Bobby used to brag about you all the time. He even brought your book around to show everyone.”
“Book?” Hannah asked.
“It was nothing,” I said at the same time Tim said, “It’s a children’s book and it won an award.”
“What award?” Hannah’s curiosity was fully engaged. Shit.
I felt my face getting as red as Hannah’s had earlier. I didn’t answer but Tim did.
“The Caldecott,” Tim said. I would have been impressed that he knew of it if I wasn’t so completely caught off guard. I didn’t know what rocked me more, that Tim knew the name of it or that Gramps had bragged about it. I felt my lips tip up in one corner.
“You’re a Caldecott winner?” Hannah asked. It was clear she knew exactly how prestigious it was.
“Didn’t win.” I shook my head. “Honorable mention.”
She rolled her eyes and said, “Like that isn’t huge.”
Tim glanced between us and placed the photo on the table. “I won’t pressure you. But I’ve seen your work and you could do amazing things with that space. The wall is yours if you want it, and I’ll pay you well.”
“You have to do it,” Hannah said at the same time I said, “Thank you, but those days are behind me.”
Tim glanced between us and said, “Don’t make a decision now. Think it over. Think of it as something to do for your grandfather.”
Well, hell. He had to put it like that.
“You know where to find me when you decide.” Tim tapped the picture on the table and rose from his seat. He started toward the shack. Halfway there, he turned around and said, “Your ice cream is on the house. Any family of Billy and Bobby is family of the Scoop.”