“My guess is your kindness completely upended his foul mood.”
It had. During the entire flight, Maisy had felt the frustration coming off Chase in waves. But that sense of hostility was gone once he was in the car with her.
“You know what the good book says,” her grandmother continued, although it wasn’t a question. “A gentle answer turns away wrath. You could have been rude back to him. Instead, you showed compassion and kindness.” She paused and smiled. “From what you said, I doubt Chase is accustomed to anyone doing him any kindness without expecting something in return. Your good deed probably shook him up plenty.”
Maisy reached for a cookie. She hadn’t intended to spend the visit telling her grandmother about Chase. She couldn’t erase the look on his face after she dropped him off at the funeral home. He hadn’t immediately gone inside the way she’d expected. Instead, he’d watched her leave, wearing the oddest expression. It was as if he couldn’t believe she was real. Grams was right. He’d expected to pay her and was shocked by her requestthat he pay it forward instead. Maisy hoped he would, although she’d have no way of knowing.
“Now tell me about your visit with Laura and Bella,” Grams said, changing the subject.
Maisy brightened, reliving the two-day visit. The airline ticket had been a birthday gift from her family, who used the miles saved from their credit cards. It was an extravagant gift, and one small way her mom had of thanking Maisy for giving up her dream of becoming a nurse. With the death of her father, Maisy had to drop out of her classes and start working at the family business, Gallagher Jewels. It was early in her enrollment, and she was taking the required courses before the more specialized ones she would need for a nursing degree. Still, it had been a major disappointment. Visiting Laura was her mother and grandmother’s way of thanking Maisy for delaying her education. Maisy met Laura at a nursing conference. They’d instantly bonded and stayed in touch when Laura had moved back to Chicago to be closer to her family.
“Patrick was disappointed that I wasn’t able to bring him much Chicago Cubs paraphernalia.” Her ten-year-old brother was crazy about baseball, and she’d hated to let him down. The Cubs were his favorite team, even above the Seattle Mariners. Unfortunately, Maisy couldn’t afford a jersey or anything more than a small pennant she picked up at the airport at an exorbitant price. Even though she knew he’d hoped for more, Patrick had been pleased with her gift.
“I rarely see Sean these days,” her grandmother commented about Maisy’s older brother.
Maisy hid a smile. “He has a girlfriend.” Sean had joined the apprenticeship program and was a second-year electrician. Helived at home, and what he brought in from the job and what little pay she collected at the jewelry store supplemented the family’s income, along with her mother’s wages as a substitute teacher. Because the requests for substitutes were infrequent, the family couldn’t rely on that.
“So, Sean is dating,” Grams said, with a twinkle in her eye. “I’ll be happy to see your brother settle down. I was worried about him for a long time.”
Grams wasn’t alone. When Sean had left home, he’d moved in with two roommates. For two years, he’d drifted aimlessly from job to job, frivolously spending his paycheck on bars and women. It was only after the death of their father that he’d returned home to help the family.
“What do you know about this girl of his?” Grams asked.
“Not much. We haven’t met her yet. I don’t know that they’re actually dating.” Her brother liked to keep his love life secret. “He’s casually dropping her into the conversation.” That was telling. His tone of voice alone told Maisy this woman meant more than her brother was saying.
“Tell him it’s time he stopped off and saw his Grams.”
“I’ll do that,” Maisy promised.
“And your mother?”
The smile left Maisy as she considered her mother. Two years after losing her soulmate, Sophie Gallagher had done her best to move forward, carefully looking after the family. The loss had left them all bereft and confused, but none more than her mom.
“Mom’s doing okay.”
“I know. I worry about her,” Grams admitted. “She’s carrying a heavy load. I’m grateful she has you, Sean, and Patrick. You give her purpose. I hope the time will come when she feels free tofind love again. Your mother is much too young to live the rest of her life alone.”
Maisy doubted her mother would ever remarry, but then it would be hard to find a man as wonderful as her father had been.
“And you, Grams?” Maisy asked. “Are you keeping yourself busy?”
Her grandmother chuckled. “I’ve got my knitting group on Monday afternoons, I play bridge every Tuesday, work at the food bank on Wednesdays, attend Bible study on Thursday, and Friday I volunteer at the hospital gift shop. If I were any busier, I wouldn’t have any time to knit.”
For years, every Christmas that Maisy could remember, her grandmother had knit the entire family sweaters. “You wouldn’t want that,” she teased.
“No, I wouldn’t. Now, get home and help your mother with dinner. You have better things to do than spend your time with an old woman.”
“An old woman? You?” That was a joke if ever there was one. Her grandmother had more life in her than any woman half her age. Maisy finished her tea and kissed her grandmother’s cheek.
“Take these cookies to Patrick,” her grandmother insisted. “He’s a growing boy.”
True enough. Patrick had sprouted up an inch since school started. Her mother had let down the hem of his jeans twice and the denim now reached as far as it would go.
“Love you,” Maisy said. On her way out she paused when she spied a small stack of pennies outside the door. It was clear someone had purposely placed them there.
Bending over, Maisy retrieved the coins. “What’s this?”
To her surprise, her grandmother blushed. She waved her hand dismissively. “Nothing.”
