Chapter 52
FIFTY-TWO
“You may call me diva if you’d like.”
—excerpt from the unpublished memoir,
Darling, I Must Say by Gloria Hayes
The day before the pageant was a normal Friday.
I got up and called Shady Cove to check on Gloria.
Then I headed to work. I argued with a man about how his eggs were cooked.
I dropped a full carafe of coffee, splattering it on two customers and myself.
I cleaned the bathrooms. I listened to Ellie tell me the entire plot of one of those Alicia Knight pirate romances.
But the whole time, my mind was somewhere else. To be honest, I wished my body were somewhere else, too. Like a tropical island where no one knew my name and pageants didn’t exist.
Around eleven, Abe charged through the door. “Can you get away right now?”
The place was half full of customers. “I—”
“Ellie,” he called out, “Iris needs to leave early.”
Ellie’s head poked out from the kitchen. “Okay.”
“I guess I can get away.” I untied my apron and tossed it with the other dirty things and grabbed my purse. As soon as I returned, Abe grabbed my hand and half-pulled me out of the diner. “What is going on?”
“I found him.”
“Found who?”
“Warren.” Somehow, we’d made it a block over to Al’s.
We paused in front of his truck long enough for him to open the passenger door.
“Actually, not Warren. Warren passed away twenty years ago. But I found one of his granddaughters.” He hopped into the driver’s seat.
“Get this—she only lives twenty minutes away. I called and told her the situation, and she knew who Gloria was. Turns out Warren talked about her all the time. She’s on her way right now. ” He pulled onto Main Street.
“Wait. Hold on. What do you mean she’s on her way?”
“To Shady Cove. I told her we’d meet her there.” He took a left and headed toward the nursing home. “I called over to Gloria’s room to see if she was okay to have visitors. She could barely talk.”
I swallowed. “I called this morning to check on her. Gloria gave the nurse permission to talk to me.” The nurse had been kind but clear. Gloria wasn’t expected to last the weekend.
He reached over and put a hand on my thigh. I tried to swallow down the emotion rising up my throat and laid my hand on top of his.
When we arrived at Shady Cove, a woman around Abe’s age was waiting in the lobby. She had long brown hair and kind eyes. “I’m Anna, Warren’s granddaughter.”
We introduced ourselves and took her up to the third floor. Before we got to Gloria’s room, I had a horrifying thought. What if we were about to find out that Warren was a monster or something? I couldn’t let Gloria hear that.
I stopped Anna. “What kind of guy was your grandfather?”
Anna smiled. “He was the best. Always playing with us grandkids. We loved spending time with him in his woodshop. He and Nana were real big on family so we always had big holiday meals at their house and huge family camping trips in the summer. He is missed.”
“Good,” I said with relief. “Yeah, that’s good.”
We walked to the end of the hallway. I asked Abe and Anna to wait there and knocked on the door. “Gloria, it’s Iris.”
I approached the bed. Somehow overnight, she seemed to have shrunk even more. The bed was swallowing her whole. An oxygen mask was covering her mouth and nose now. How had she declined so quickly in less than twenty-four hours? It seemed impossible.
“Hey,” I said quietly. “Are you awake? I have a visitor for you if you feel up to it.”
Her eyes opened slowly. “Who?”
“It’s Warren’s granddaughter.”
“Oh. Oh, yes. Help me sit up a bit, please.” I found the bed control and helped her get situated. She demanded a mirror, which I found, and stared at her reflection. “Do I look like a dying old woman?”
“Gloria, seriously?”
She smiled. “Bring her in.”
I led Anna to the chair beside Gloria’s bed and introduced them.
“You have your grandfather’s eyes,” Gloria said in way of a greeting, her own eyes glistening with tears. “Oh, those are his eyes.” Her voice caught.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Anna said. “Grandpa talked about you often. He would tell us about you two growing up together and how you went off to New York and became a Rockette.”
“He did?”
“He kept a collection of articles he found that mentioned you. I think he was proud of you.”
Gloria managed to laugh through her tears. “Was he… did he have a good life?”
Anna nodded and touched Gloria’s hand. “He did. He was one of the best men I knew. He and Nana were married for almost fifty years. They had four children and nine grandchildren. He was the best grandpa. He passed away when I was in high school.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It was twenty years ago now, but every now and then, it hits me.”
“I understand that very much. Iris, darling, could you find that photo album for me?” She smiled at Anna. “Would you like to see some photos of your grandfather as a boy?”
Abe and I stood back while the two of them looked through old photos. Gloria told stories and Anna did, too.
I leaned over and kissed his cheek, his scruff tickling my mouth. “Thank you for finding her.”
“I’ve brought some photos, too.” Anna pulled out an envelope from her purse and handed them to Gloria.
“This is a family photo.” Anna leaned over and pointed at it. “There’s Grandpa and Nana. These are their three oldest, all boys, Charlie, Sam, and Isaac. And the little girl is my mom. Her name is Gloria.”
Anna left thirty minutes later when it became clear that Gloria could barely keep her eyes open. Abe walked her down to the parking lot while I stayed and said goodbye.
“Iris, he named his little girl after me.” She smiled softly as her eyes drifted closed. “And he was happy. He had a very good life, a big family just like he always wanted. H-he never forgot me.”
“Pffst. Like anyone could forget you.”
She laughed softly. Her breathing slowed down as she drifted off to sleep.
“I’ll see you soon,” I whispered and kissed her forehead. Suddenly, she grabbed my wrist in a surprisingly strong grasp.
“Wait,” she said. “Listen to me. Warren and I, we found our way. It wasn’t to each other and that’s…
okay. It was enough that I got to love him for a short time.
But Thomas? I got to love him for the rest of my life.
Find that person, Iris. When you do, don’t let him get away.
Don’t let anyone else tell you differently. ”
I nodded, unable to speak past the lump lodged in my throat.
“He is a good man,” she said fiercely. “More than that, he will always take care of your heart. You hold on to him, and you don’t let go. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Good. That’s good.” She let go of my wrist. “I’m very tired. Go away.”
I laughed softly. “I love you, too.”
“I know, darling, I know.”