Chapter 138
Grandma seemed to accept that answer, though I wasn’t sure I did. “Now, let me show you the album,” my grandma said, gently patting the cover. “I won’t show you the whole thing right now because it is too much. I haven’t even gone over it with your sister yet, but I want to show you the wedding photo of your grandfather and I.”
I patiently waited as she turned a few pages to an old black and white photograph of herself standing next to a younger looking version of the grandpa I’d seen in pictures, though he didn’t look that much younger than he had in the other photos. I’d always thought he looked strangely young for a grandpa, and of course, now I knew why. The photo looked like it was from the early to mid-19th century. “You’re beautiful, Grandma,” I said, staring at her with her hair in short curls around her face, a bouquet of flowers in her arms.
“Thank you. Your grandfather sure was a handsome feller, too. Boy, do I ever miss him.” I could hear the overwhelming sadness and longing in her voice. I had always known how much my grandparents loved each other, but I don’t think I had a true understanding of what it was like to lose someone you loved so intensely until recently, not that the way I felt about Elliott was romantic at all, but it was still the kind of love that made you miss a person when they’re gone, and knowing I’d never see him again made my heart ache even when I wasn’t thinking about him. I imagined that’s how Grandma must’ve felt every moment of every day since my grandpa was killed. As much as I wanted to know how that had come about, I knew I couldn’t ask her to relive it.
My grandma flipped through a few more pages of the book, showing me a few old photographs of her and my grandpa. She said she couldn’t show me the whole thing because it would be too overwhelming for her to go through all of the relatives right now, but I did see one picture that left my mouth hanging open. It was the grainy kind of photo that let you know it was taken in the mid-20th century. My grandma, grandpa, Jamie, Hannah, Christian, a couple of people I didn’t recognize, and my soon-to-be brother-in-law standing in front of the apartment building my sister now lived in. I leaned in really closely to look at it. “That’s… insane,” I said, staring at it. My grandma laughed.
“For the love of everything holy, Janette, please don’t show her anything from the disco era,” Jamie said, his tone telling me he wasn’t joking.
Grandma laughed. “Okay, not today.” She winked at me. “Maybe another time. Jamie had a super rad haircut back then.”
His face was turning red, and I desperately wanted to know what she was talking about, but I figured like most other things, I would bide my time. I imagined if anyone had one of those big afro-like haircuts, it would be Elliott not Jamie, so I could only speculate on what would be so funny, but I was hoping someone would let me see soon enough.
“Why don’t we go have some lunch?” Grandma asked, setting the photo album aside and patting my knee.
“Sounds good to me!” I concurred, standing and helping her up off the couch. I’d been too nervous earlier to eat, and if there’s one thing my grandma can do, it’s cook, though she never actually eats much. I’d need to ask about that, too.
My grandma made us a delicious lunch of her special chicken salad on croissants with the cookies she’d promised, although I felt like I was the only one actually eating. I am usually not too shy about shoveling food in my mouth no matter who I’m with, but these other two were really making me feel like a glutton. That didn’t stop me from shoving a few more cookies into my mouth. I may have also taken a few home for later.
I hugged and kissed my grandma goodbye and climbed into the SUV, preparing myself for the speedy ride home, but to my astonishment, I noticed that Jamie wasn’t driving nearly as fast as he had on the way there. About fifteen minutes into the drive, I asked, “Why so slow?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Do you feel the need, the need for… going faster?”
I laughed so loudly I almost snorted and had to put both of my hands over my nose since even a baby like me recognizes the famous movie quote he almost said. “You’re a funny guy in an unassuming way.”
He turned a slight shade of pink. “Yeah, well, in our line of work you have to find some way to be a little bit of a comedian, or you’ll end up in the loony bin.”
I knew he was exaggerating but also caught his drift. “I don’t want to go any faster, thank you, but I thought it was odd.”
“I’m really not in any hurry to get back to Shenandoah,” he replied, and I figured it had more to do with not wanting to pick up Christian than it did with dropping me off.
“How’s it going with my computer?” I asked. “Did Christian get everything installed?”
“Yeah, he’s done. He’s out checking with some of the locals right now, but I’ll let him know when we get closer to town.”
“It’s so cool that you can just call someone with your eye. What’s that like?”
“Well, it’s a lot better than the way it used to be. Back when I started doing this, if you wanted to talk to someone, you had to open your mouth. And if they were really far away, you had to,” he cleared his throat, “PROJECT YOUR VOICE AND HOPE THEY HEARD YOU!” he shouted, and once again I was laughing. “Most of the time, that didn’t work.”
“You mean, sort of like everyone else in the world?” I finally managed to ask.
“Yeah, but at least you have a cell phone now. When I was born, there was no such thing as a phone. Sending a text required an inkwell and a quill.”
“That’s just so hard to believe.” I was shaking my head in disbelief but still laughing. I decided to add, “You are so incredibly old.”
He took his eyes off the road long enough to pull his sunglasses down and glare at me, and I laughed for the third time. My side was beginning to hurt. “Guess I won’t be answering any more questions for you.” He made a smacking sound with his mouth, kind of like my mom does when she can’t believe something we’ve done.
“Oh, come on, Dr. Joplin. You know I was just teasing. You’re not as old as Christian.”
“Or your future brother-in-law, you know? Aaron is older than me.”
“Seriously?” I said, and before he could glare at me again, I clarified. “I mean, he doesn’t necessarily look younger than you, I just was hoping he was only like, you know fifty or something.”
Now it was his turn to get a chuckle. “Hardly.”
“How old is he?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.
“Let’s just say he witnessed the Irish Potato Famine.”
“Shut up!” I declared. “Are you serious?”
“As a level three Vampire alert.”
Confused, I asked, “What’s a level three Vampire alert?”
“I don’t know but it sounds pretty serious, doesn’t it?”
