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“Not that Jack knows of,” Wyatt said. “He spoke to her a couple of months ago.”
Anita nodded and stared at the number and address he had written down. “Well?”
“What are you thinking?” he asked in a tentative tone.
“We should call her right now!” Carly said.
Wyatt rubbed his forehead. “I’m thinking that too. If we’re all ready to do this?”
Carly raised her hand into the air. “I’m ready!”
Anita smiled and Wyatt chuckled.
“All right, here we go...” He linked his fingers and stretched out his hands, then picked up the receiver.
Anita moved over a seat to be right next to him, and Carly scooted her chair closer.
They could hear the ringing of the phone, and then a woman answered it. “Lila Martin?” he said. “This is Wyatt Davis, I’m the grandson of Sam Davis, an old friend of your mother’s. My grandpa has been hoping to get in touch with her.”
The woman didn’t say anything for a moment, and Wyatt moved the receiver out a few inches from his ear, so Carly and Anita could listen in.
Finally, the woman spoke, her voice sounding sharp through the receiver. “Sam Davis? From Seattle?”
“Yes, that’s right.” Wyatt gave Carly a thumbs-up. “I guess your mother sent him a postcard a few months ago, and hearing from her brought back a lot of memories.”
The woman took a long moment to answer again. “I told her not to send that postcard, but I guess she found a way to without me knowing it.”
Wyatt blinked. “I’m sorry. Is there a reason you don’t want her to get in touch with my grandpa?”
Lila didn’t hesitate this time. “Yes. He broke her heart decades ago, and she never got over it. She has to move on, needs to move on. It’s been over sixty years, as you know.”
“It has been a long time,” Wyatt agreed. “But she moved from Seattle with her family. From what I heard, there was no other option. So I don’t see how she can say that my grandpa broke her heart.”
“That’s her story to tell,” Lila said. “But I don’t want her upset all over again.”
“I understand.” Wyatt drew in a breath. “Would it be possible to speak with her? Maybe it would actually be healing?”
Lila scoffed. “Her life has been far from easy. All those promises made to her by Sam Davis were broken, and I’m not going to watch her suffer over it one more day.”
“I’m really sorry for all of her pain,” Wyatt said. “Do you think it will help her to talk through all of this? I can have my grandpa call her.”
“No,” Lila said. “I don’t know how you got this number, but I don’t want to ever hear from your grandpa.”
Anita touched his arm. “Give her your number,” she whispered.
He nodded. “I got this number from Jack Martin. I didn’t mean to stir up painful feelings or memories. Could you please write down my number in case...in case you do happen to change your mind and speak to her?”
He paused, then finally he recited his phone number. When he hung up, he rubbed at both temples. “What happened that Gramps isn’t telling us?”
Anita laid a hand on his arm. “I don’t know, but it sounds like Susan was very hurt by it.”
Wyatt nodded. “Yeah. I don’t know either—Gramps made everything sound like they wanted to see each other again, but circumstances never worked out. Then they both married, and fell out of touch.”
“Do you think your grandpa forgot what happened between them?” Carly asked.
“Possibly,” he acknowledged. “But obviously Susan hasn’t. Maybe it’s better we tell Gramps that we couldn’t find her. The truth might hurt too much.”
“Or be healing,” Carly said. “Isn’t that what you told Lila?”
