“Oh my.” Gran sat back, her eyes wide. “Did you have a good marriage?”
“In our own way.” Her lips curved in a small, wry smile. “We loved each other, and we were willing to overlook each other’s... flaws, I guess you’d call them.”
Gran stared at her, her mouth open. She abruptly closed it, then opened it, but no words came out.
“Joe was a wonderful man in many ways,” Viola continued, “but he had an insatiable craving for novelty and excitement.”
“He did like an adventure,” Gran mused.
“He always wanted what he couldn’t have.” Viola took a long draught of wine. “He had a roving eye, you know. Pardon me for saying this, but...”
“But what?” Adelaide urged.
“Well, it’s not my place.”
“Please.” Gran leaned forward. “Tell me whatever you can.”
“Well, through the years, I’ve often wondered if he could have been faithful to you, if he’d married you. Forgive me for saying it, but I have my doubts.”
Gran sat perfectly still, unmoving as a rock, for several long moments.
I leaned forward, about to ask if she was all right. Matt put a reassuring hand on my arm.
“You know,” Gran said at length, “that very same thought crossed my mind. I never really allowed myself to ponder it much; I didn’t want to, because I didn’t want to spoil the notion of a grand romance. But deep down, I think I had the same doubts.”
I sat there for a moment, stunned. I’d been so caught up in the tragedy of the thwarted lovers that it never had occurred to me it might not have worked out.
But Gran was right. The character traits that made Joe so exciting as a young beau would not necessarily have made him a good husband. How could one woman hold the interest of a man who was always in search of the next conquest, the next adventure?
Gran leaned forward. “Did Joe... Did you two have children?”
Viola’s lovely face, so composed until now, fell. She shook her head. “Lord knows we wanted them. That’s why Joe married me—to start a family. But it turns out Joe had the mumps when he was overseas, and it left him sterile.” She polished off her wine. “But... he had Becky.”
“It’s a such shame he didn’t know her.”
“Oh, but he did.”
The color drained from Gran’s face. “What?”
“He followed her progress through school and college, and when she got a job, he became a client.”
“He... met her?” Her voice was a raspy whisper. “When she was grown?”
“Yes. Oh, she never knew he was her father, of course. But she was his investment advisor. He would go to Chicago and take her to lunch.”
Gran’s hand flew to her chest again.
“You see, Joe did quite well for himself. He took all of his back pay from the service for the years he was a POW and invested it in IBM and Xerox when they first started. He made quite a fortune. He had a real knack for wheeling and dealing.”
“I knew he had a sharp mind,” Gran said. “Becky took after him that way.”
“He was very proud of Becky. Loved to say she’s the one who really made his fortune. He always gave her a generous Christmas ‘bonus.’ She refused to take it, so he started sending it to her anonymously.” She grinned. “Much like he sent you the tulip bulbs.”
“Oh my.” My grandmother’s hands fell to her lap.
“As for Becky, I believe she always gave her gift to charity.”
Gran nodded. “That sounds like Becky. She wouldn’t do anything that wasn’t on the up-and-up.”
