Things Remembered (41 page)

Karla nodded. “After this last episode, it's become a mission. She's convinced that with the right food and lots of attention, Grandma can live to be a hundred.”

“When are you leaving?”

“In a couple of days. I told Jim I'd be back as soon as I felt Anna could take care of herself between visits by Susan and Mark.” Karla automatically started to unplug the tree lights, then thought to ask, “Are you coming to bed?”

“Not yet. I'm going to get a blanket and pillow and stay here to look at the tree for a while.”

“I'll see you in the morning, then.”

“Wait—” She had a twinkle in her eyes. “You didn't leave the cookies and milk for Santa.”

“I'm passing that job on to you.” She turned to look at Grace when she got to the hall. “And don't forget carrots for the reindeer or they'll leave a mess out of spite.”

Grace laughed. “One more thing.”

“Yes?”

“My new niece-to-be—tell me her name again.”

“Cindy. Why do you ask?”

“I left the name tag blank on her present.”

“You bought Cindy a present?” As easily as that, Grace had made Cindy a part of the family. “How did you know?”

“My psychic told me.”

Karla made a futile attempt to hide her distaste. “Don't tell me you actually—”

“God, Karla, you're so easy you ruin all the fun. Think about it. Can you picture me spending money on something like that over a new pair of shoes? I don't think so.”

“So how did you find out?”

“I talked to Grandma.”

“Oh—she didn't tell me you called.”

“Why should she?”

“You have a point.”

Grace held up her hands and looked at the ceiling. “Did you hear that, God? My sister gave me a point. You said it would happen one day, but it seemed so far-fetched I didn't believe you.”

“I'm not that bad,” Karla protested.

Grace gave her a steady look. “And I'm not either.”

“No . . . you're not.” She blew her a kiss. “But you can be a real pain in the ass sometimes.”

Grace didn't say anything, letting Karla have the last word.

Chapter

31

A
re you sure you have everything?” Jim asked.

Karla nodded. “I've been through the house half a dozen times.” The movers would be there first thing in the morning to pack everything up and put it in storage. What she would need for the next several months she had in the car with her. The amazing part was how much she'd decided she could do without.

“I guess this is it, then?” He held his arms open to give her a hug.

“You'll call me if you run into any trouble?” she said. She stayed in his arms longer than she had since their divorce.

“Of course. Who else?”

“I don't see why you should, but just in case.” The decision to sell him the shop and house had been obvious, and they'd managed to pull it off in less than a month. She'd asked a fair price for both and he'd paid it without hesitation, delighted to have the shop he'd wanted all along and the house Amy had fallen in love with the first time she'd stayed there. Oddly enough, Mark had been her only stumbling block. When she told him what she planned to do, he flew down the next weekend to tell her it wasn't necessary for her to give up anything for him. He was willing to come to her. She convinced him it wasn't the solitary sacrifice it seemed, but a decision she'd reached for herself and Anna, too. The weekend she'd spent with Mark had given her a glimpse of what their life would be like. She'd thought she couldn't possibly love him more. She'd been wrong.

Jim let her go. “You're stalling, Karla.”

“I'm going to miss this place,” she acknowledged. “And you, too.”

“No, you're not.” He kissed her on the cheek. “And that scares me a little. Remember, you promised to keep in touch.”

“All the best to you, Jim.” She opened her car door to get inside.

“You, too, Kay Bee.”

She drove away. When she reached the corner she was tempted to turn and look back, but only for a second. She wasn't leaving anything that truly mattered; she was going to something she'd been seeking her entire life.

Karla arrived at the clinic at four o'clock that afternoon. She'd planned to go to Anna's and get cleaned up before she saw Mark, but lacked the willpower to be in the same town and stay away even that long. He was at the desk giving a patient instructions on medication for her dog when he glanced up and saw her standing in the waiting room. His reaction was a reflection of her own feelings—warm, excited, intimate, beyond words.

He finished what he'd been saying to the woman, excused himself, walked over, and took Karla in his arms. He hugged her so hard he lifted her off her feet. “You weren't supposed to be here until tomorrow.”

She picked up a thread of something in his voice. “You had something planned. . . .”

“Cindy and Susan insisted. I let them have their way and postponed my own plans for a little later.” He touched her face and looked into her eyes. “I can't believe you're actually here.”

She smiled. “I feel as if I should say something really corny about this being the first day of the rest of our lives, but you deserve better.”

“Just tell me you love me—there isn't anything better than that.”

“I love you, I love you, I love you.” Suddenly, acutely aware of the people around them, she added in a whisper, “The rest I'll save for later.”

“Now how am I supposed to go back to work after that?”

She laughed. “This is only the beginning. Wait until I get you alone.”

He walked her to the door. “I'll pick you up in a couple of hours.”

“After sunset,” she said. “I want to watch the sun go down with Anna tonight.” After a week of storms, the sun had finally broken through, and she'd decided it was a gift to her and Anna that she couldn't ignore or put off until another time.

Karla spotted an early daffodil blooming as she pulled into the driveway. In a couple of weeks the flower beds would be filled with a half dozen varieties of jonquils, with tulips primed and ready to take their place when they began to fade. Anna's simple, basic passions—birds and flowers and sunsets—had become Karla's, too. She'd come to understand about the subtleties of life that added to the whole. She would not trade Mark's Christmas tree for a diamond necklace, or Anna's pumpkin seeds for a trip around the world.

Although they'd talked on the phone every day, Karla hadn't told Anna about selling her house and business because she knew Anna would question her motives. Anna needed to see for herself that Karla wasn't sacrificing anything, she was freeing herself of possessions that had become anchors rather than wind.

Anna must have spotted her from the window, because she came out on the porch as Karla got out of her car. “What a wonderful surprise. Have you come to see Mark?”

“Yes—but I came to move in with you.” She stopped in the middle of the walkway and looked at Anna. “I hope that's all right.”

“Of course you can stay with me. You're always welcome here. You know that.”

“This isn't a visit, Grandma. I'm moving in.” She pointed toward the car. “See? I've brought all my stuff.”

“But how can you do that? What about the shop?”

“I'll tell you all about it later. Right now we have tea to make and a sunset to watch.” She came up on the porch to wrap her arms around Anna and was filled with a sense of homecoming.

“I'll go along with the tea and sunset, but you've got a lot of explaining to do about the other, young lady.”

Karla laughed and then kissed her. “I love you, too, Grandma.”

As soon as the water was on the stove, Karla ran an extension cord out the window and hooked up the electric blanket she'd given Anna for Christmas. She spread the blanket over the rocking chair and turned the heat on low.

“Very resourceful,” Anna acknowledged when Karla had her tucked into the chair. “Now I suppose I have to be careful not to spill my tea and electrocute myself.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me.” Karla brought a chair from the kitchen and sat down next to Anna. She was going to have to look into getting her own rocking chair for the porch.

“You do realize there's never been a sunset anywhere on this earth that could live up to these preparations.”

“I'm not worried. We've lots of sunsets ahead of us to make up for a disappointment or two along the way.”

“All right, you have me where you want me. Now are you going to tell me what's going on?”

“First I have something I want to give you.” She pulled a piece of paper out of her sweater. “It's not the real thing, that will come later, but I wanted something to mark the occasion.” She handed the paper to Anna.

Anna looked at the writing and then at Karla. “I don't understand. This can't be what I think it is.”

“It's exactly what you think it is. The house is yours again. Free and clear, under your name, to do with as you see fit.”

“How?”

“I bought it back from the bank. You won't be getting a monthly check from the reverse mortgage anymore, but since I'll be staying here and paying rent, it won't matter.” Karla had used the cash from the shop to buy Anna's house. For income she had the monthly payments Jim made to her for the house.

Anna brought the paper up to cover her face, using it as a shield, but not before Karla saw her eyes fill with tears. She'd never seen her grandmother cry and was unsettled. “I did this all wrong. I shouldn't have just dumped my surprise on you like this. I'm sorry.”

Anna put the paper on her lap and wiped her eyes, but it did nothing to stop the tears. “I'm so confused. I don't know whether to be mad at you or just admit it's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.” Finally she chanced a look at Karla. “How did you know how much this house meant to me?”

“You told me.”

“I don't remember. I shouldn't have. I wouldn't have if I'd known you were going to do this.”

“You didn't tell me so much in words, Anna, as you told me in memories.”

“I'm sorry. I had no right to do that to you.”

Karla took a tissue out of her pocket and gave it to Anna. “You healed my heart, Grandma. Without you I wouldn't have recognized what real love is. There was so much hurt and anger inside me before I came here that there wasn't room for you, let alone a man like Mark.”

“You know he's the only man I ever thought was good enough for you.”

She laughed. “That was pretty obvious when you started playing matchmaker.”

The statement coaxed a smile out of Anna. “I just hate it when I'm being obvious. I'll have to work on that from now on.”

Karla slipped her hand into Anna's checking to make sure she was staying warm. She could have let go once she found out what she wanted to know, but liked the way it felt and stayed. “There's something else I've been meaning to talk to you about.”

“I'm afraid to ask.”

“That money I found in your checkbook . . .”

“It's still yours, you know. I haven't spent a penny of it and don't intend to.”

“Good, because I've decided what I want to do with it.”

“All right, you have my attention.”

“I'm going to rent a house on the coast—just you and me for an entire week.”

Anna stared at the western sky and was quiet for a long time. Finally, still not looking at Karla, she said, “March is a good month. It's when Frank and I used to go to celebrate our anniversary.”

“Then March it is.”

“Look, the clouds are beginning to turn.”

Wisps of salmon and pink marked the underbellies and fringes of the vanguard clouds from the storm sitting offshore. “It's going to be a good show tonight. Certainly worthy of another cup of tea.”

“Don't go—you'll miss something for sure.”

Karla sat back and propped her feet on the railing.

Anna noticed her shoes. “Penny loafers? I didn't think they made them anymore.”

“I called around until I found a pair.”

“Now why would you do that?”

“I had a penny I wanted to save and I couldn't think of a better place to keep it.”

“I assume it has special meaning?”

“I found it on a day when I was feeling lost. Now I use it to make sure I never forget how lucky I am or how far I've come.”

“Penny loafers were popular with the kids that lived in town when I was a girl. Only they wore dimes and used them for bus fare.”

The sky had turned again, the salmon to rust, the pink to orange, the muted colors giving way to depth and richness . . . precisely the way Karla's life had changed when she came home.