“What will you do now?” Sarai asked.
“I’ll have to have a serious talk with my grandfather,” he said. “It’s time to face facts.”
She nodded, but a lump rose in her throat. He was going back home to Ohio, and Moe would go with him. She and Mammi would be alone in that house, and their happy days of visiting with Moe would be over... Sarai’s time with Arden would be over.
She hadn’t meant to get attached.
She’d been serious when she said that without Mammi, Moe might seriously decline, but it occurred to her now that Mammi Ellen might experience the same thing. What happened to an old person when the one they loved was taken away?
“Arden, if we can find a way for our grandparents to get married—if they want that—would you support it?” she asked.
“Hmm?” It seemed like his mind had been elsewhere.
“If Moe loves my grandmother and my grandmother loves him, would you set aside your pride and let my family support them together?” she asked.
“It’s not about pride...”
“It is about pride,” she countered. “If Moe marries my grandmother, then he’s our family, too. And I think it would only be right to let us help them.”
“Your daet might start getting tired of all these people he’s got to support,” Arden said.
“Then you don’t know my daet very well.”
“He’s a good man,” he replied. “But he’s still a man, and every man has his charitable limits. I don’t want to press on his.”
“But if they want to get married?” she asked hopefully.
“I don’t think they do,” he said. “After all these years, they’re just friends, Sarai.”
“They’re from a different generation,” she said. “They show it more quietly. They aren’t so obvious.”
He looked over at her, and that dark gaze of his smoldered with something deeper. Her breath caught, and he smiled faintly. “Like what I feel when I look at you. I’m not saying anything can come of it, but I am saying that I wouldn’t be able to have tea with you for years on end and not do anything about it, either.”
She stared at him. Had he meant that? She licked her lips and swallowed.
“Sorry if that upset you,” he said.
“I’m not upset,” she breathed.
“Good. Because it’s true. My point is, when people feel something, it doesn’t just sit there for years. So maybe don’t get your hopes up for our grandparents.”
“Oh...”
Was she being naive? Or was he being cynical? She wasn’t sure, but her heart suddenly felt much heavier than it had before.
Maybe they all needed a win for love. Maybe Arden needed to see two happy old people kept together, just to show him that it could happen. And maybe, just a tiny bit, to prove her right.
When they got back, Sarai went back into the house and discovered Mammi Ellen alone in the kitchen doing some dishes. Arden’s tool bag sat next to the staircase. Sarai would have to return it to him.
“Where’s Moe?” Sarai asked.
“He was tired and went home,” she said.
“Oh... I thought we were all going to have pie,” she said.
“Where’s Arden?” Mammi asked.
“He went home, too.”
“See? Sometimes plans change.” But there was something in Mammi’s voice that betrayed sadness. What plans was she talking about? Was this only about pie? If Sarai knew Moe at all, it took a great deal to keep the man away from Mammi’s baking.
“What’s wrong, Mammi?” Sarai asked.
“I’ll miss him, dear,” she replied with a tremor in her voice.
“Did he say he was going?”
“He said he’ll probably have to. He has quite a few bills, you see.”
“I know.”
“How would you know?” Mammi asked, shooting her a sharp look.
“They were Arden’s errands today,” she replied. “He was paying off his grandfather’s bills. They had piled up. That’s how I know. But Arden made me promise not to say anything about them. But since you knew about them already, I didn’t see how it would hurt.”
“That’s very decent of him to help his grandfather like that,” Mammi said. “I have your father’s help, and yours of course, but Moe doesn’t have the support I do. I know how blessed I am.”
“He emptied his savings,” Sarai said. “I think it took a long time to save it up. I saw his face as he paid all those bills, and it...it hurt him to do it. Although, he didn’t want anyone else to do it, either. I feel terrible for him, but Arden won’t accept help with his grandfather.”
