A Treasure of the Heart

“Okay. She got a newfangled phone. One of those little ones that takes pictures and shows you who you’re talking to.”

Lillie fetched two mugs and put a tea bag in each before bringing them to the table while she waited for the water to boil. “What does that have to do with the scarf?”

“I’m getting around to it,” the elderly woman grumbled. “The director at the Senior Center has one of those phones, too, a little blue one. I stopped by there on my way to the market the other day and had a chance to try it out.”

“And you called Wanda? Gram, that’s long distance.”

“I know. But I couldn’t think of anybody else who had one of those stupid camera things and the director said it was all right.”

Lillie nodded, hoping to convey empathy. “Go on.”

“I was all set to have a fine set-down visit with Wanda, just like we used to do before she moved so far away. Might have, too, if it hadn’t been for that telephone. Wanda took one look at the snapshot of me on her phone and busted out laughing.”

“Why?”

Darla Sue’s thin fingers grasped the cap and pulled it off. “’Cause of this.”

“Your hair?” Lillie blinked, more puzzled than ever.

“Yep. When Wanda finally stopped cackling like a hen on a nest of fresh eggs, she said I looked like a skunk.”

“Oh, dear.” Lillie had to bite her lip to keep from agreeing. “You’re letting your hair grow out?”

“It would appear so.”

“And that’s why you haven’t been at the café?”

“Bingo. I always did think you were a smart cookie.”

Lillie was frowning. “I still don’t see the problem. I mean, I can understand why you’d be miffed at Wanda for laughing at you but you could still go in to work. There’s not a thing wrong with gray hair. I don’t know why you dyed it for so many years, anyway. If you want to go gray, why don’t you just have the dyed part stripped of color?”

Darla Sue had a faraway look in her eyes, as if her mind was elsewhere, and she didn’t respond to Lillie’s sensible suggestion. Instead, she said, “Max didn’t cotton to gray, you know. That’s why I kept it dark. For him. Now that he’s gone, I decided it was time to be myself for a change.”

Lillie froze. Was Gram saying what Lillie thought she was saying? “Grandpa Max is dead?” She gently took the old woman’s hands. “I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Not dead, you ninny.” Darla Sue pulled away with a cynical grimace. “Gone. Took off for Florida with one of them fancy single floozies from the retirement center.” She sighed. “I suppose he’ll be back. He always comes home eventually.”

“Whoa.” The teakettle began to whistle in the background. Lillie ignored it. “Always? Grandpa’s done this kind of thing before?”

“Three times, more’s the pity. You’d think a man his age would be over this silliness by now, wouldn’t you?”

Lillie was nearly speechless. “But…”

“The first time he left me was when your mama was little. That was the scariest, me being alone and all. The second time it happened was before you were born.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“Things were hard enough between you and Max, thanks to his stubborn, selfish nature. I always took him back and forgave him, so there was no need to keep bringin’ up the past.”

“That’s unbelievable.”

“Not to me it isn’t.” Her chin jutted out stubbornly. She smashed the shower cap back onto her head and poked stray curls beneath the elastic band with jabs of her thin, quick fingers. “That tea water’s boilin’. You wanna go get it or shall I?”

It was hours later before Lillie had a chance to steal away and place a private call to her mother, Sandra, in Harrison.

As soon as Sandra said hello, Lillie followed with “Why didn’t you tell me about Grandpa Max?”

“Oh, dear. Mom’s been blabbing, hasn’t she?”

“She said he ran off with a floozy. I can’t believe he’s such a stinker.”

“He isn’t. He’s just a man. They can’t help it.”

“Phooey. Daddy wasn’t like that.” The dead silence on the other end of the line made Lillie’s heart sink. “Mom?”

“Your father was a good man—most of the time. And he was a wonderful provider. I’m just sorry you had to see us go through that awful divorce.”

“Daddy cheated?” Lillie felt as if her childhood had just imploded. No wonder her mother had suffered so much. She’d known the whole sordid truth. And now Lillie did. The reputation of the man she had loved and admired most while growing up had just been destroyed.

Head spinning, she barely heard her mother asking, “So, how was the trip back to Gumption? How’s Mom?” There was a short pause. “Lillie? Are you still there?”

“I’m here,” she managed to say. Once she started to speak, casual conversation seemed to get easier. “Gram’s fine, if you don’t count the shower cap she insists on wearing all the time to cover her gray roots.”

“I told her to get a haircut weeks ago. See if you can talk her into it while you’re there, will you?”

“Sure.”

“Honey? Are you okay?”

“Me? Of course. Why wouldn’t I be? I’ve just learned the truth about something that affected my entire childhood. That one fact finally answered the thousands of questions I’ve been asking myself for years. Trouble is, I don’t like those answers one bit.”

“I’m so sorry, honey. I just assumed you’d figured it out a long time ago, what with the way gossip travels in a small town like Gumption.”

“Well, ‘Ask and you shall receive,’” Lillie replied. She couldn’t blame God or anybody else if she’d gotten exactly the kind of answers she’d asked for, could she? And it did explain so much.

Suppose her mother had been the kind of resilient woman Darla Sue was? Suppose she’d chosen to forgive and keep their family together instead of divorcing Dad?

Then I wouldn’t have come to live with Gram and we’d probably never have been this close, Lillie realized with a start. Think what I’d have missed!

That conclusion made her smile in spite of everything. It looked as if maybe the good Lord did know what He was doing after all.

Lillie didn’t get back to DD’s till almost closing time. A skinny, acne-pocked kid she’d never met was stacking dishes in the utility sink when she popped in the back door. He glanced up briefly but didn’t seem nearly as surprised to see her as she was to see him.

She gave him a passing “Hi,” hung her jacket on a hook in the back room and went to find Helen. The faithful waitress was busing the last of the tables along the outside wall so Lillie pitched in to help.

“Thanks,” Helen said as they carried stacks of dirty plates to the cart and scraped off the garbage before sorting the dishes, silverware and plastic tumblers into separate bins. “How was the boss lady?”

“Fine, if you don’t mind seeing her in a shower cap all the time.”