Sara’s breath hitched as she made googly eyes at Kieran and Lucky. Busted!
“I was.” Desiree said.
Whew. Problem solved.
“Is that Desiree talkin’?”
“Yes, it is, Mrs. Haggerty. I don’t feel right calling you granny.”
“Didn’t that boy tell you my Christian name?”
“I might have missed it.”
“’Tis Bridget. You can call me that. Everyone does, apart from him. Oh, Desiree, luv, I can’t tell you how much it means, what you did.”
“I was supposed to be there.”
“Of course you were. It was God’s will that you were there with my Freya. Can you tell me… if you can remember….” Her voice faltered.
“Like it was yesterday. We shared a room.”
“Truly? Side by side? She wasn’t alone then?”
“No. We talked.”
“About her home? About County Kildare? Was she missin’….” There was a soft gulp on the other end.
“I’m sure she was.” Desiree wadded up the bandana in her hand, crushing it in her fist. “She had big plans.”
“She always did, that one.” Sorrow laced every syllable.
“They were good plans, Bridget. For her and the baby.” Desiree’s voice grew husky. “I’ve been where she was. Alone, with a baby. I would’ve helped her.”
“I know ya would, luv.” Her voice trembled. “Friends, you’da been. Grand friends. She was….”
“Amazing.”
No words came through, just the sound of a tissue being ripped from the box and soft sobs.
Sara peeked over at Desiree. Her cheeks were wet but the bandana remained clenched in her fist. She stared straight ahead at an image only she could see.
Then she took a deep breath. “We have to remember the living, Bridget.” She swiped at her face with the wad of red cloth. “We have Lucky.”
Bridget blew her nose. “Praise God we have that boy.” She sounded much stronger. “Lucky, are you there?”
“I’m here, Granny.” His voice was a little ragged around the edges, too.
“You’re a gift to Desiree and she’s a gift to you. Don’t you ever forget it.”
“I won’t, Granny.”
“And you have another gift, another great blessing. Oksana, your wife. Is she there?”
“No. We decided?—”
“Why isn’t she there?”
“We didn’t want to have too many people at once.”
