CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Harper awoke with the tinkling piano of the first part of Bette Midler’s “The Rose” running through her head that Monday morning. Dark clouds drifted over the moon and a coyote howled in the distance, but nothing was going to spoil her day. For the first time ever, she beat Zed to the café. She turned on the lights, reset the thermostat, and started the coffee brewing before she turned on his radio in the kitchen. She smiled when Conway Twitty started singing his rendition of “The Rose.”
She pulled up the old wooden stool and listened to the whole song, nodding about love being a flower. “Yes, Wyatt, our love is all of what he’s saying,” she whispered.
Tawny poked her head into the service window about the time the song ended. “Where’s Uncle Zed? Look at what he gave me last night.” She held out her hand. “It was his mother’s wedding ring. I can’t believe he’s trusting me with it. I’m going to cherish it forever. He’s given us all . . .” She stopped and clamped her hand over her mouth.
“Oh, no!” Harper felt the world drop out from under her, and she had to grab the worktable to keep from falling.
“He has to be sick. I told y’all he was losing weight and coughing more. Come on. Let’s go see about him.”
Dana came in through the kitchen door. Her face was absolutely gray, and tears were dripping off her cheekbones. Brook was weeping behind her, and Harper knew without even asking. She dropped to her knees and put her head in her hands.
“What? Is Uncle Zed sick? Have you called his doctor or 911?” Tawny screamed and ran toward the door.
Dana stopped her, hugging her close while they both sobbed. “He’s already cold. I called 911, and they’re sending the coroner. They told me not to touch anything.”
Brook crossed the floor and sat down with a thud beside Harper, who leaned into her shoulder and continued to sob.
“He’s sittin’ in his easy chair.” Brook said a word at a time. “His hand is stretched out touching the other chair. He just looks like he’s sleeping. I can’t believe he’s not going to walk me down the aisle when I get married.”
Harper gathered the child into her arms, and suddenly her other two sisters were there in a group hug, their tears mingling on their cheeks.
“What are we going to do without him?” Tawny whispered. “He was the glue that held us together.”
“We’ll have to rely on his and Granny’s memories. I hear sirens. That must be the ambulance,” Dana said.
Harper shook her head. “I don’t even know what to do next. We’ve got to close up shop for a couple of days.”
Dana nodded in agreement. “Call the lawyer. Remember, that’s what was in Granny’s letter. She said there was another letter when Uncle Zed went and to call the lawyer.”
“I’ll do it when . . .” Harper couldn’t finish the sentence.
“We are brave. We are Granny Annie’s girls. Suck it up,” Brook said. “Let’s go to the store so we can stand by him when they put him in the vehicle. We can cry and carry on like babies later.” She got up.
Harper and Tawny did the same and then followed Dana and Brook out the kitchen door. The ambulance pulled up behind the store and Dr. Tipton got out of the passenger’s seat. He and the driver went inside, but he was back out in only a few seconds.
“I’m not going to do an autopsy. The congestive heart failure and bad lungs finally took their toll. Two years ago I would have bet a hundred dollars that he’d go before Annie,” Dr. Tipton said. “I reckon you want him taken to the same funeral home as Annie? I can do that right now if you want, since I’m the acting coroner until we can get another one.”
“Yes, please,” Dana said. “Which one was it?”
“Let me write it down for you. If I don’t, you’ll forget ten minutes after I leave. I’m so sorry for your loss and it coming so soon after Annie.” The doctor wrote on the back of one of his business cards. “His heart just played out, but from that last visit, I’d say he knew it was coming. And, girls, this is a blessing. It wouldn’t have been long until he would have had to have continual oxygen—possibly a respirator in a few weeks. Y’all want to go in there and tell him goodbye before we take him?”
All four nodded. Chins quivering, backs straight, and holding hands, they entered the little apartment that had been his for more than fifty years. He could have had so much more, but he’d opted to stay and help Annie after their grandpa died.
Harper went right to him and touched his gray hair. “Goodbye, Uncle Zed. I’m going to miss you so much. I hope you know how much I love you.”
Dana took a few steps forward and draped an arm around Harper’s shoulder. “Is this why you gave each of us one of your prized possessions? You knew it wasn’t going to be long, didn’t you?”
Brook slipped an arm around her mother’s waist. “I love you, Uncle Zed, and that comb you gave me will bring you right in the room with me on the day I get married. I’ll feel you and Granny sittin’ on the front pew, and you can wear your overalls.”
Tawny stretched out her arm to embrace all three of them at once. “Peace. You helped me find it. I owe you so much. I can’t say goodbye because it hurts too much, so I’m just going to say that I’ll see you and Granny someday. Until then, I’ll touch this ring when I need your advice, and you can pop into my memories anytime you want to.”
They stood, two on each side of the gurney, as the doctor and the folks in the ambulance rolled his body out of the apartment. As it drove away, four hands went up to wave goodbye, and a fresh batch of tears started to flow.
“Let’s just go in there and sit in those chairs for a little while. Maybe his spirit hasn’t completely left us yet,” Harper said. She led the way back inside and sat down in his recliner.
Dana eased down in the chair beside it, and Brook sat in her lap.
Harper moved over, leaving enough room for Tawny to join her.
“Smoke. I can smell his cigarettes in the fabric of this chair,” Tawny whispered as she wedged in beside her sister.
“I get a whiff of Granny’s perfume in this one,” Dana said softly.
Harper looked around at the sparsely furnished room. Two recliners, a television on a stand with lots of movies on the shelves under it, a queen-size bed in the corner with a colorful quilt on top, and pretty lace curtains on the windows. He hadn’t left much in material possessions, but what he’d left in love couldn’t fit in a mansion.
It was daylight when the lawyer showed up. No one had called him, but there he was, tapping on the café window while the sisters were having packaged sweet rolls from the store and coffee for breakfast. Barely able to swallow, they damn sure weren’t ready to deal with him, but there didn’t seem to be any other choice but to let him in.
“I’ll do it.” Brook headed for the locked door with a CLOSED sign hanging in the window.
“Dr. Tipton called me. I’m sorry for your loss and Zed’s coming this quick.” He removed his glasses and wiped his eyes. “I’ve known Zed my whole life. He was a good man. I am to hand this letter to Harper. You will see that it’s sealed, not only with tape but with a wax seal. Annie wanted to be sure that no one read it until Zed was gone, and I am meant only to deliver it and then leave. Again, I’m so sorry, and if you have any questions, I’ve been retained for one year to help you get through any legalities. Good day.”
He laid the letter on the table and eased the door shut behind him.
All four of them stared at the letter for a full minute before Harper finally picked it up. She turned the envelope around backward for them to see. “I bet this is either Granny’s or Uncle Zed’s thumbprint. I can’t break it.”
Tawny got up and went to the kitchen and returned with a steak knife. “Use it like a letter opener.”
Harper slipped it under the flap and carefully slit the top open, leaving the seal intact. “I’m not sure I can read this out loud.”
“We’ll each read part of it. It looks like it’s pretty long,” Dana said. “I wonder why she wanted you to have it first.”
“I’m sure she’ll tell us,” Tawny said.
“Okay, here goes.” Harper pulled several handwritten pages from the envelope and unfolded them.
My girls, if you are reading this, then Zed is gone. I can’t say as I’m sorry, because I want him with me. It breaks my heart to know that he is lonely without me. We’ve never been apart except for those years when he was away in the military, and I missed him so much then. I love you, Harper. I know life has not been an easy road for you, but I’m sending love and hopefully you will heal here at the lake. It has that effect on us.
Harper stopped reading. “Yes, Granny, it does, but I don’t know if it’s the lake that heals us or your spirit.”
It took a while, but she finally cleared her throat and went on.
We always thought Zed would go first with his heart troubles. But it looks more and more like I’m going to have to pave the way, and that’s why I’m writing this letter to you. I expect all three of you to be strong and to keep the resort going as long as you possibly can, like I told you in my letter before. Harper, you are going to be in charge of the kitchen. If he didn’t already give them to you, Zed wants you to have the recipes for the specials. Anyone can make burgers and hot dogs, so that’s not a problem. Anyone but me, that is—I can burn down a house trying to boil water.
Harper tried to giggle, but it came out a sob, and she laid the paper to the side until she could get control. She pulled a napkin from the dispenser and wiped her face.
Don’t worry, my lovely granddaughter, about running the café alone. I know that your sisters are going to pitch in and help you with your job, just as you will do the same for them. I’m hoping that Zed lived long enough to get y’all transitioned from sometimes sisters to a real family. Now give this to Dana and let me talk to her for a spell.
Without hesitating, she handed the pages across the table, and Dana began to read.
You were my first grandchild. I know my son didn’t do right by you. He was my only child and I loved him, but he was too much like his father. Seamus had a stubborn streak, and once he made up his mind—enough about that. You lived the story. You don’t need me to write it all down. I loved you from the first day that Lacy put you in my arms, and I appreciated her so much for letting me be a part of your life. I thought I couldn’t love anyone as much as I did you, but then Harper and Tawny came along and I found out that I could give them as much love as I did you and yet not take away a bit of your portion. Then Brook came along and she was the icing on the cake for this old soul.
Brook sniffled, and Dana laid the letter down and hugged her closely. Tawny stroked Brook on the back and Harper reached across the table to pat her on the head. The moment was filled with grief and love intermingled, but Harper wondered if they’d all be able to survive this new relationship without Zed.
Keeping one arm around her daughter, Dana held the pages flat with her other hand and kept reading.
You are going to keep running the store, but I want you to call someone to turn Zed’s apartment into the laundry room. That way you can help with the laundry during slow times in the café. Flora told me a year ago that she wanted to retire, but she stayed on because I was sick and we needed her, so I’m assuming that she’s probably gone by now. Now give this to Tawny.
Dana slid it across the table toward her youngest sister.
As I write this, I’m seeing a picture of you girls as little children. Dana was such a good babysitter and helped me by keeping you younger sisters busy in Zed’s apartment while I worked. It was pouring down rain and she stripped both you girls down to your underpants and then put on her little bikini. I looked out the store window and there you all three were, holding hands and dancing in the rain out front by the gas pumps. I hope that God lets us take memories like that into eternity with us, because it was a time when you were really sisters, and I love it so much.
Tears dripped on the page, and Tawny quickly grabbed a napkin and dabbed away the moisture before she went on.
I love you, Tawny. Your father wanted a son to carry on the Clancy name so badly, but I was elated when you were a girl. If you ever have children and are so inclined, you could name one of them Clancy. I think that would make him happy. I hope none of you ever have to endure the loss of a child.
Tawny stopped and looked across the table at Harper.
“It’s okay,” Harper said. “Go on. She didn’t know.”
We are hardwired to bear the loss of our parents and grandparents. Even though it brings grief and heartache, it’s a natural thing. There is nothing natural about losing a child, and the grief is something that never leaves a mother. You have to be strong to endure it, and it helps to have three beautiful granddaughters and a great-granddaughter. Love can do miraculous things.
“Amen,” Harper whispered.
Now down to business. You’ve been taking care of the book work, but I suspect if Flora is gone you are helping in other areas. I also know that you can’t cook worth a damn. You got that from me, child. But when you have time, you might go on in the kitchen with Harper and learn a few things—without fighting about every single thing. Now pass this on over to Brook. She can read the rest of it, because I’m not sure how any of you are going to take the rest of it. Don’t hate me.
Tawny handed the letter to Brook, who shook her head. “I don’t think I can read it. I’m too emotional.”
“Please,” Harper said. “It was her wish.”
“Okay, I’ll try.” She cleared her throat and began.
I loved your grandfather, Seamus. Never doubt that. He was a good man, a wonderful friend, and an amazing business partner. He adored our son from the day of his birth, and I don’t think Gavin ever completely got over his father’s death. He would have done better if I’d gone first, I’m sure, but that’s not the way God planned it. Just know that I loved him.
Brook peeked over the top of the pages with a puzzled look on her face. “It’s like she’s trying to convince us that she loved Grandpa Seamus.”
“I think she’s just trying to make sure we understand before she goes on with the next part,” Harper said.
Brook found her place and went on.
I’m glad that Seamus wasn’t here when Gavin turned his back on Lacy and Dana. There would have been a huge family split over that. I had to put on my kid gloves when it came to loving my son enough to let him make his own decision and loving my granddaughter enough to not allow his decision to affect mine. Seamus was thirty-seven when he died. The doctor said a blood clot went through his heart and he was gone before he hit the floor. Gavin was sixteen. It was a tough time, because a boy needs his father at that age.
Brook’s eyes grew wide. “That’s only a year older than you are, Mama.”
“Keep reading. I’m in good health. Don’t worry about me,” Dana said.
Brook’s gaze went back to the pages.
Like I said before, I loved Seamus, but I was never in love with him. That place in my heart was given to Zed when we were just little kids. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t in love with Zed. So after Seamus died and I got over the guilt of not being able to give my husband my whole heart, things fell into place for me and Zed.
You have to understand that in my young days, race was a much bigger thing than it is today. White women didn’t marry black men. Two years after Seamus died, Gavin went off to college. A couple of the older women from the church came to tell me that it wasn’t proper for me to have a black man living on the resort without Seamus or even Gavin here to give the appearance of rightness. They were still living in a different world, one back when they were young in the forties, when it sure wasn’t right for a black man and a white woman to work together like we did. I told them what they could do with their prejudiced and self-righteous attitude, and I never went back. Besides, God does not dwell in houses made with hands, but in our hearts. It says so in the Bible. And after Gavin had been in college awhile, I decided to tell Zed exactly how I felt. And he held me like a woman, not like a friend, and told me he’d always felt the same.
“Oh, my!” Brook gasped. “Were people really prejudiced like that?”
Harper managed a weak smile. “Some people still are.”
Brook went on.
Another year passed and I told Zed that we were getting married, but he wouldn’t have any part of it. Gavin and Zed had a good relationship, and he was afraid it would ruin what they had, plus he was looking out for my reputation. I told him that I’d fire him if he didn’t marry me. He said he couldn’t live without me in his life, so we’d compromise. We’d get married, but no one could ever know about it. We went over the line into Oklahoma, got a marriage license, and were married by the judge right there in the courthouse. The license is in the safe along with birth certificates and other important papers.
“Well, I’ll be damned!” Tawny gasped. “So he was our grandpa after all. I wish I would have known. I would have called him Poppa instead of Uncle Zed. Lord, I loved that man, and I’m going to miss him so much.”
Brook glanced down at the last page and slid the letter across the table to Harper. “It says to give this to you now.”
Harper inhaled deeply.
I have been cremated. My ashes are in a wooden box in the apartment where Zed and I spent most of our time. You are to cremate Zed and put his ashes in the same can, and shake it up good so that we are together for eternity. Then I want you to take them to the big rock and scatter them together into the lake. We were both born here and we should be buried here, but I want to be buried beside Zed, who was my soul mate, and this is the way to do it without causing some big stir. No funerals, no big memorials. Maybe a song if you want. No tears, because Zed and I are finally together in a place where it doesn’t matter what color anyone’s skin is. I love you all.
Harper finished, “And it’s signed, Granny Annie.”
“Can we do this?” Tawny asked.
“We might be down to four, but it’s still better than three elderly people,” Brook said.
“We are strong. Granny said so and she never lied to us,” Dana said.
“Except about Uncle Zed bein’ our grandpa.” Harper laid the letter down on the table. “And then it wasn’t actually a lie. If we’d known to ask her outright, she might have told us.”
Dana’s head moved from side to side. “No, she wouldn’t have, because she promised Zed that she’d never tell and she was in love with him. Today is his birthday. We were going to have a surprise party for him tonight.”
“Don’t you wish they could have been young in this day?” Brook sighed. “But it’s just titles. I couldn’t have loved them any more than I did and I don’t think they would have loved us any more than they did. And I bet he got his birthday wish, Mama. He’s with Granny Annie today.”
“What do we do now?” Dana asked.
“We’ll go to the funeral home and make arrangements to cremate Uncle Zed.” Harper folded the letter and gently put it back in the envelope. “I’ll put this in the safe with the other papers.”
Dana pushed back her chair. “I found out a couple of days ago that we can get service when we get across the bridge. So I’ve got a charged phone. If y’all want to use it to make any calls on the way to the funeral home, you are welcome to it.”
“You’d better call the school, Mama. I need to be here today,” Brook said.
“Yes, you do. And you can call Johnny. I’m sure under the circumstances the principal will let you talk to him.”
Tawny popped her palm against her forehead. “All the times when I’ve gone to the bank, it never dawned on me that I could use my cell phone when I was away from here. I need to let Nick know what’s going on, because he’d planned to come by at lunch today.”
“Me neither, when I went into town for supplies,” Harper groaned. “I’ll take you up on that offer, so I can tell Wyatt, too.”
“But let’s don’t change things here, okay?” Tawny said.
Harper laid her hand in the middle of the table. Tawny covered it with hers, and Brook and Dana did the same.
“By the joining of hands, we agree to keep this place as it is and run it as long as we can,” Harper said.
“Amen,” the other three said in unison.