A leadedthump-thump-thump accompanied a soft shuffle along the floor, coming closer andcloser to the living room, and I stood up and turned to the open doorway to seeTess’s grandmother entering the room. She was hunched over, moving slowly withthe help of a silver cane, and I hurried to take her hand.
“I don’t need …” shebegan to protest, but I didn’t give her a choice. I placed my palm on her back,took her hand in mine, and led her to the chair in the center of the room.Shelly, bless her, didn’t wait for me to tell her to move. She did what shesensed was right and waited near the door with Annabel as I helped the elderlywoman into the chair. And Tess …
Well, Tess looked likeshe’d just witnessed a miracle.
She blinked, lips openand frozen. Standing there, gawking at us as her grandmother mustered a painedsmile that looked unnatural on her sagging skin. It looked like she hated it.But,there were memories in those laugh lines, and I betthere’d been a happy woman in there at some point. I’d bet she was still inthere somewhere.
“Tessa,” the old womanbarked, and Tess snapped out of her stupor. “Introduce me to your friends.”
“O-oh, sorry. Yeah, um,Grandma, this is JonO’Delland these are two of hisdaughters, Shelly and Annabel.” Then, Tess turned and looked up at me with herbottom lip wriggling and her eyes flooding with gratitude. “Jon, this isMargaret Lang, my grandmother.”
Placing a hand over hergrandmother’s, I smiled and said, “It’s very nice to meet you, Margaret.” Ilooked toward my silent daughters and crooked my finger, beckoning them over.“Come here, ladies. Say hi.”
They listened well,walking together and smiling timidly at the scowling old lady. “Hi,” Shellysaid first, and Annabel waved.
“Well, aren’t you twojust adorable,” Margaret commented stiffly, nodding at the girls, and then atme. “You have beautiful, well-behaved girls, Jon.”
“Thank you,” I replied,prideful, laying a hand over Shelly’s head. I swept my gaze around the livingroom, illuminated only by dim bulbs from lamps tampered by age. I marveled atthe bookshelves and the library surrounding us. “This is quite the collectionyou have in here.”
“You like to read?”
“Like it?” I scoffed.“Next to playing the piano, reading is probably my favorite thing to do.”
Margaret hummedthoughtfully, slowly nodding her head, and asked, “What’s your favorite book?”
“Ever?” My eyes widened with incredulity. “Jesus, Margaret. That’slike asking me which of my kids I love the most.”
“No, it’s not,” sheargued firmly. “There is one book that touched your life more than any other.What is it?”
I shifted my eyestoward Tess and caught the look in her eyes that said, “See? Now you understandwhat Ihave todeal with,” and I smiled reassuringly.I’d been through Hell and had fought my demons. There was nothing this old,grumpy woman could do to scare me.
“Well, I guess thatmight beThe Phantom Tollbooth.It’sthe only book I’ve read multiple times, eventhroughadulthood,” I confessed, feeling a little on the spot, in admitting that myfavorite book in the entire world was one meant for children.
But Margaret’s thinnedlips stretched into what I’d dare to call a genuine smile. “NortonJuster,” she said with fond recognition. “Excellent book.What do you like about it?”
I wasn’t sure anybodyhad asked me that question before. Not my wife, not my parents nor my brother.They’d all just simply accepted that I was a grown man with an old paperbackcopy of a story about a boy and a fantastical dog. But I had the answer, it’dalways been there, just waiting for someone to ask.
“Well,” I began,helping myself to a seat on the couch. I tugged my daughters toward me, huggingmy arms around their shoulders. “I guess what I love most is the cleverness of itall. You know, taking something as simple as everyday language and learning,and making magic with them. I’ve always tried my best to do the same … I mean,I’m no masterful poet. I’m not Shakespeare or Poe or Frost, and I never willbe. But I tryreally hardto make something good outof simple language through my lyrics. I’d like to think that book helped inthat regard.”
Margaret’s expressionwas one of wisdom and approval. “There’s not always a need to complicate thingswith big words that hold little meaning. Sometimes the most magic can be foundin simplicity.”
I nodded beforesettling my chin against Annabel’s head. The girls pressed their backs to mychest, and my eyes lifted to find Tess watching me. Her upturned lips took amore accentuated form as she mouthed, “Thank you.” I wasn’t sure what she wasthanking me for. For talking to the oldwoman?Fordistractingher?For making hersmile?I had no idea. But when Tess crossed the floor and took a seat beside me, Iknew I was content in that moment. In its simplicity and innocence.
I made up my mind tofully enjoy this moment and this visit. Before we’d have to leave and get Lillyfrom summer camp. Before I’d have to go to work and tell my brother about mynew weekend plans. Before I’d return home to lay in bed and fight between dreamingof the future or mourning the past.
Because for now, I washappy. And thatin itself wasmagic.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
TESS
Noteverybody has a defining moment in which they fell in love. For many people,it’s a gradual progression of emotions, moments, and circumstances, until oneday, they are hit with the realization that somehow, this is what happened.That wasn’t me, though. Not with him.
***
The girls dancedaround the living room to myfavorite Savage Garden album,Affirmation.I knew it was late and that they should at the very least be getting ready forbed before their dad came home, but they were just so happy. Swishing theirprincess dresses and shaking their caramel-colored hair from sloppy braids. Ithad been a good day, even for me, and dammit, I danced with them in a way Ihadn’t since I was a kid with a room wallpapered in Hanson posters.
I felt like I wascelebrating. Exactly what, I wasn’t sure. Grandma wasn’tbetter. She wasn’t any younger, and she certainly wasn’t anykinder. But for just a little while, she had been happy, and I think, eventhough nobody said it, we all were. Jon, the girls, and me, as we’d watchedRichard Dawson host theFeudandlistened to Grandma recite all the answers. We had sat on the couch in acontended silence, and it’d felt good.
