“G-Goldie?” he chokes out, tears welling in his electric blues. “Is it you?”
I can tell he’s confused. Understandably so. I’ve seen pictures of Grandma when she was younger. We’re very similar.
Letting go of Elias’s hand, I slowly approach what I now know to be my grandfather. I kneel in front of him and take his weathered hand in mine.
“I’m your granddaughter, Nora, and your name is Amos Everhart.”
He makes a choked sound as tears race down his cheeks. I swallow down a sob so I can be strong for him. Elias gently touches the back of my head, sending me immense comfort.
“I’m Amos,” he says, nodding, as though he knows that name. “I’m Amos.”
His eyes skip past me as if searching for someone else. My heart breaks for him.
“She’s, uh, gone, Grandpa.” I start to cry, hating that I can’t be as strong as I want to. “It’s just us. And Sandy, my mom.”
He turns his head to look at me, face distraught. But then, he repeats her name over and over again. Joy sparks in his wet blue eyes. “I have a baby. Sandy.”
Sniffling, I nod. “She’s all grown up now, Grandpa, but yes. Sandy is your daughter. Do you want to see her?”
“So badly,” he tells me tearfully.
I rise to my feet and pull away so I can find my phone. Then, I FaceTime my mother. When she answers, she’s putting office supplies into a closet at Ron’s work.
“Hey sweetie,” Mom says as digs more reams of paper out of a box. “What’s up? How are you feeling after the proposal fiasco?”
I’d texted her after the drama to let her know. So much has happened since then. I feel a bit nervous to turn her world upside down.
“It’s fine,” I say, brushing off that minor event in comparison to this one. “Um, I have something to tell you. You’re going to want to sit down.”
Her blue eyes flash with worry. “What’s wrong?”
“Lovebird? It’s me, Daddy.”
She blinks at me in confusion and frowns.
“Mom,” I say, tears flooding my eyes. “We found him. We found Amos.”
Her head starts shaking back and forth in disbelief as if this is some cruel joke.
“He’s alive. Grandpa is alive.”
When I flip the phone around to show her Grandpa, Mom screams.
“It’s okay, Lovebird. Daddy’s here.” Grandpa smiles shakily at his daughter. “I’m going to take care of you now.”
Chapter 26
Elias
I’m glad to be home.
Clo missed me. Corbin really missed me. Apparently cleaning up bird poo is really low on his list of enjoyable things to do, especially since we have fifteen new ones adding to the cleanup.
“There she is,” I say as I hear the back patio door open. “Didn’t think you’d be up so early after us getting in so late yesterday.”
Nora, with Goldie’s teacup full of sugary sweet coffee in hand, settles in the seat beside me. Clo hops off my knee to go say hello. When I’d knocked on her bedroom door earlier to retrieve my bird, Nora woke up enough to mumble her approval for me to enter and was breathing heavily before I left the room.
“I’m tired,” she says with a yawn, “but there’s no way I’d miss our slow morning time together.”
