Chapter Seventeen
Taking the afternoon off work, Maisy stopped by her grandmother’s house for their weekly trip for groceries.
Business was slow, so she’d left early. When it came to shopping, Grams had a difficult time without paper coupons.
To help her grandmother get the most savings, Maisy used the app she’d downloaded that listed the weekly sale items.
As soon as they walked through the sliding glass door, Grams reached for the sales flyer while Maisy collected the cart. Her grandmother needed to push the cart these days, as it was easier for her to maneuver in the aisles while holding on to something.
“Oh, look, they have blueberries on special,” she said, reading through the paper. “And hamburger is a dollar off a pound. You should tell your mother.”
“I will,” Maisy said, holding back a smile. Eileen Gallagher’s enthusiasm for the little things in life inspired her.
Because she lived alone, her grandmother’s shopping list was short, and soon they were on their way, bag in hand.
“With all the money I saved this week, we should stop at Willie’s Diner for coffee and pie. Besides, I need your opinion.”
“You need my opinion?” This was an unusual request. Grams was the wise one in the family.
“I do. It’s nothing important, just a little girl-to-girl chitchat along with apple crumble pie. What do you say? Are you game?”
“You bet I am. Who am I to turn down my favorite dessert?” Maisy said as she loaded the food items into the trunk of the car.
The diner was a family favorite. Maisy’s father would sometimes treat the family to breakfast after Mass on Sunday.
Her favorite was blueberry pancakes. It was a treat the entire family enjoyed.
The owners came to know them all by name.
The husband had purchased a Christmas gift for his wife at Gallagher Jewels, and the two men had become friends.
Since that time the diner had sold to a new owner.
It helped that they’d kept the most requested recipes, plus added a few more.
It’d been a long time since Maisy had last visited.
It was too early for dinner, so they had no trouble finding a booth.
They both ordered coffee and apple crumble pie. Maisy waited until they were served before she spoke, curious as to what her grandmother had to say.
“All right, tell me what’s on your mind.”
Grams reached for her coffee, holding on to the beige mug with both hands. “It’s about Lloyd.”
Ah, so that was it. Lloyd was the seventy-year-old who lived in the same complex. Maisy found it hilarious that at age seventy-six, her grandmother would insist Lloyd was too young for her.
“Does he still leave pennies by your door?” she asked.
“Every day,” Grams fussed. “Yesterday, it was a nickel.”
It appeared Lloyd was upping his game.
“That tells me Lloyd is getting serious.”
She waved her hand, dismissing the thought. “Phooey.”
Maisy tried not to smile. She found this older generation’s way of courting highly entertaining. “I’ll say one thing for Lloyd,” she said. “He’s persistent.”
“That he is,” her grandmother agreed, and her cheeks reddened slightly.
“What’s up with Lloyd now that’s got you concerned?” Clearly the younger man was taking up her thoughts—otherwise, Grams wouldn’t have asked Maisy for advice.
Setting her mug down, her grandmother leaned forward. “Did I mention he’s my bridge partner now?”
“No. What happened to Betty?” Her grandmother and Betty had learned to play the game together when she’d first moved to the senior living complex. They’d become fast friends.
Grams sighed. “Poor Betty’s eyesight has gotten so bad she keeps making mistakes and decided to quit.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me, too,” she said. “Now Lloyd is my partner.”
“Is that a problem?” Maisy asked. “Is he as good a player as Betty?”
She nodded. “Better, even. We took all four games this week. The best Betty and I ever did was two games.”
“Congratulations, that’s great. So, what’s the issue?”
Flushing an even deeper shade of pink, Grams looked away. “Lloyd is wearing me down. I’ve discovered to my surprise that I like him.”
Maisy understood her grandmother’s hesitation.
She felt the same way about Chase. He’d called every night this week to tell her about one act of kindness he’d accomplished for that day.
The night before, he mentioned the homeless man who lived in the alley near his office.
Chase had brought him breakfast along with a cup of coffee and a fresh set of clothes.
Often the things he did were small. Holding the elevator, bringing Krispy Kreme doughnuts into a team meeting.
He’d been clever and thoughtful in his actions.
It was wonderful to see how his attitude had changed.
He credited her, although she had done little, other than inspire him.
She found it easy to talk to him—too easy.
After several minutes she remembered that she needed to be cautious with Chase.
As Sean had warned her, becoming overly attached to a man who most likely viewed her as a novelty wouldn’t end well.
Especially when they lived thousands of miles apart.
Whatever was between them was destined not to last. Their evening chats took time away from her studies, time she’d religiously guarded until now.
She didn’t mind if she had to study later than usual because she was on her phone with Chase.
Admittedly, it led to less sleep than normal.
The price, however, was worth her morning yawns and tired eyes.
It seemed Chase found it difficult to let her go.
He often followed up their conversations with texts.
Almost every night, within minutes of their call ending, she’d get jokes and funny memes that caused her to smile.
Ones that were hard to ignore and not respond to.
Soon her fingers were tapping away on her phone with lengthy exchanges.
Despite her reservations about his interest in her, Maisy found herself treasuring their nightly conversations. She liked him.
A lot.
Her grandmother sighed, bringing Maisy’s attention back to her.
“Lloyd asked me to dinner again and said he was going to cook it himself. What do you think, Maisy? Should I accept?”
Maisy didn’t hesitate. “You like Lloyd. He’s a good bridge partner and he knows his way around a kitchen. Why not let him cook you dinner?”
Grams glanced side to side before she whispered, “I think he has money.”
“What makes you say that?”
“I can tell these things. He wears expensive shoes, and don’t forget the fact that he thinks nothing of wasting pennies, while I’m pinching mine.”
Maisy couldn’t keep from smiling, although she understood her grandmother’s hesitation. As a widow on a pension, her grandmother lived month-to-month and was frugal.
“Even if it’s true and Lloyd is loaded, is that such a bad thing?”
“I guess not.” Grams sighed again. “The thing I struggle with…” She hesitated.
“With what?” Maisy urged.
“I’ve only been with your grandfather. What if…” Her face flamed red now.
“Whatever it is, just say it.”
Her grandmother’s voice was so low, Maisy had to strain to hear her. She hesitated once again and looked both ways, as if she feared someone might be listening in on their conversation.
“What if…” She hesitated again. “He wants to have sex?”
Knowing how serious she was, Maisy struggled not to laugh. “Well,” she said, careful to find the right wording. “You should cross that bridge when you come to it. I doubt Lloyd will seduce you over your first dinner.”
Still, she looked uncertain. “You really think I should accept?”
“By all means,” Maisy assured her.
Her grandmother’s shoulders relaxed with relief. “Thank you, Maisy. I knew I could trust you with this. I feel better already.”
After leaving the diner, Maisy helped her grandmother unload the groceries and then headed to the park, where Patrick was at baseball practice.
By carpooling with two other families, they seemed to be making the schedule work.
This afternoon it was her turn to collect Patrick and the two other boys his age and drive them home.
The boys clambered into the vehicle and immediately began chatting, excited that their coach had started to make position choices.
“Coach chose Oliver for shortstop,” Patrick told her, after they’d dropped Oliver off at his house.
“I’m in the outfield,” Ryan, the boy who sat next to Patrick in the backseat, announced.
“Congratulations. Is that the position you wanted?”
“Yeah. I’m the best.”
Such modesty. “What about you, Patrick? Did the coach tell you where he wanted you?”
“Not yet.” Patrick sounded a little down.
Maisy knew his old baseball mitt that had been handed down from their father to Sean years earlier wasn’t nearly as good as a new one would be. The problem was there wasn’t enough money in the family budget to buy Patrick a new one. Perhaps next month.
“Patrick wants to play first base,” Ryan explained. “The coach hasn’t picked anyone yet.”
Maisy knew her brother had been hoping for that position. Nearly every night he talked about his coach and team. He was thrilled to be in Little League. His enthusiasm was enough to ease the sacrifices the family made to ensure he could participate in the sport he loved.
They arrived home close to the dinner hour. As soon as Patrick walked in the door, their mother turned away from the stove and said, “A package arrived in the mail for you today.” She nodded toward the box on the kitchen table.
“For me?” Surprise filled each word.
“It has your name on it,” her mother answered.
“Who’s it from?” Maisy asked.
“We’ll have to wait to find out.”
Not needing any further encouragement, Patrick tore into the box, paper flying in all directions. When he managed to pry it open, he paused and then let out an ear-piercing cry of delight.
“Oh wow. Oh my goodness.” Reaching inside, Patrick pulled out a brand-new baseball mitt.
“Who sent it?” Maisy wanted to know, although she had a strong suspicion.
Patrick dug back inside the box, scouring for a card, and came up empty. “I don’t know. There isn’t anything inside.”
Maisy grabbed hold of the empty box to look at the label. She should have known. The glove came from a large sports store in Chicago.
“This is the best mitt ever,” Patrick said.
Maisy noticed that it fit his hand perfectly.
Her brother bounced and danced around the room with sheer joy. “I can’t wait to show the guys. Maybe now the coach will assign me first base,” he shouted.
Maisy waited until after dinner before she sent Chase a text.
You had that baseball mitt mailed to my brother, didn’t you?
Me?
Don’t play dumb, it doesn’t suit you.
If you must know, it did come from me. I told you I was practicing generosity.
Patrick was thrilled. I suppose I should thank you. The glove he had was well past its prime.
How ungrateful she sounded when she should be thanking him. It was hard for the family to accept help. Too much pride, she guessed.
Sometime later, Sean sought her out, and he didn’t look happy.
“You heard about Patrick’s mitt, right?” he asked. They squared off in the upstairs hallway outside her bedroom.
She nodded, unwilling to comment.
“Chase sent it, didn’t he?”
Hoping to look as nonchalant as possible, she said, “It appears so.”
Her brother frowned. “I wish he hadn’t. I planned on buying him one after I got my next paycheck.”
“Chase didn’t know that; he was being kind.” She wasn’t overly fond of what he’d done herself, but she refused to deny Patrick a gift that had made him this happy. “We both know Patrick badly needed a decent mitt.”
“Did you say anything to Chase about Patrick’s old glove?” Sean demanded, as if she ever would.
“No, of course not.”
His sigh revealed his frustration before he said, “Good. I’d rather we did without his help.”
“I know,” she said, sharing his feelings. “But I won’t fault him for being generous. We should take it at face value and be grateful. Patrick is ecstatic. We shouldn’t try to take that away because we’re too proud to accept his gift.”
Maisy was about to turn away and return to her room, when her brother stopped her.
“Are you two still talking every night?”
“Chase and me?” she asked with feigned innocence.
“You know exactly who I mean.”
Embarrassed, she started toward her bedroom door, when Sean stopped her again.
“Is it wise, Maisy?”
She didn’t answer.
“Be careful before you get romantically involved with him. I’m afraid you’ll end up with nothing but regrets.”
His interference in her life upset her. “Listen, big brother, I don’t need your advice. I haven’t said anything to you about Katie.”
“Leave Katie out of this.”
“Aha,” Maisy cried, her point made. “You think it’s all good and well to offer your opinion about me and Chase, but seem unwilling to take any advice yourself.”
Sean crossed his arms and glared back at her. “Fine, say what you want to say.”
“Do you think it’s a good idea to date a woman you work with?” She brought up the very objection he’d mentioned earlier himself. However, seeing how Sean insisted on meddling in her business, she felt it was only right that she have her own say.
“Under normal circumstances, I’d agree with you,” he surprised her by admitting. “But Katie and I have been sent to different jobsites, starting last week, so your point is moot.”
Feeling chagrined, Maisy shrugged. She wanted to encourage the relationship; her brother had made multiple sacrifices for the family.
He’d moved back home, helped with the finances, and took on many of the responsibilities that had once fallen on their father.
Sean deserved to be happy. “I apologize, I shouldn’t have said anything.
You’re right about Chase. I need to be wary. ”
“I’m only saying this because I care about you.”
“I know,” Maisy said.
And she did. Her brother was right.