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“Come on, you guys,” Tracey said. Although her smile was enormous, her eyes filled with tears. “You know how happy we are to have all of you here. You know we love each and every little inch of your personalities. Penny and Bradley, I can’t wait to get to know you as well as I can. And I know Megan and Emma can’t wait to get better acquainted with their California cousin.”
“You really go to Berkley?” Emma asked breathlessly.
Penny nodded as her grandfather said, “That’s incredible. What a school, Penny. And Brad, you’re at UCLA!”
“It’s not quite Berkley, but it’s not bad. Besides, Penny was always the brains in the family,” Brad said.
“Enjoy that freedom while it lasts,” Michael said playfully. “Sooner or later, you’ll find yourself a slave to your job. Me, well, I’m a partner of one of the most popular coffee shops in Northern Michigan.”
“You’ve really taken to that title, haven’t you?” Wayne joked.
“I’d say it fits like a glove. And Margot’s gotten good at the old scones. She’s branched out even to birthday cakes!”
“I thought you said you made that yourself!” Cindy cried.
Michael shrugged. “When Margot started baking, I couldn’t stop her. She basically insisted on it.”
Moments later, Elise fetched the cake from the counter. It was ornate and multi-tiered, a difficult task for a new baker like Margot. Delicately, she pressed the tips of the candles into the tops of each tier and then flashed a light through each of the wicks. Cindy flicked off the lights in the dining area as Elise stepped back into the shadows. Everyone began to sing.
When the song was finished, Dean Swartz closed his eyes for a long time as the candlelight flickered across his face. After a pause, he opened his eyes again to say, “You know what? I can’t think of a single thing to wish for. I look around me at this table, and around this island, and around the great state of Michigan, and I know that I’m the luckiest man alive. Maybe we should all blow out these candles together, huh? Start my seventy-second year off right.”
Those around him, including Michael and Brad and Megan, blew out the candles along with him. Everyone clapped as Cindy whisked the cake away again to slice it up, murdering Margot’s perfect design with a sharp knife.
After the cake was devoured, Elise watched as Dean, Penny, and Bradley collected themselves in the sunroom, which overlooked the backyard. Out there was a personal heater and plenty of blankets along with lights that shrouded over it to allow them a beautiful view of the constant snowfall. Elise hovered outside the room while the three of them spoke.
“That was when Grandma, Mom, and us went to Hawaii together,” Penny said. She lifted her phone toward her grandfather, who peered down at the photo of the four of them.
Always, it had been the four of them. Sean had never bothered to tag along.
Elise was grateful for that, now. He hadn’t tainted her memories.
“Wow. Look at Allison! She was always so beautiful, but I never imagined she’d look this stunning after sixty,” Dean said.
“I remember something that happened on that trip,” Penny said. “This guy in his early fifties was hitting on her. Grandma flirted back until she remembered that she was the only one around to take care of us because Mom had gone to get a massage. She looked at us all disappointed, then told the guy to come find her later. I don’t know if he did.”
“Oh, I’m almost certain he did,” Dean said with a wild laugh. “That sounds like your grandmother. Always the life of the party. Always up to something sneaky.”
“Our Dad never knew what to make of her,” Bradley affirmed. “I think he was partly frightened of her and partly mesmerized with her. He knew that she didn’t want him to marry Mom, especially not so young.”
“She was a smart cookie. She’d seen enough young marriages go under in her time. Including mine,” Dean said. Shadows fell beneath his eyes.
“The fact that you knew Grandma all these years ago is crazy to me,” Penny breathed. “I’ve hardly had time to process her death, you know? We charged right into our semester, and Mom ran away to Mackinac, and I just...” She paused for a moment, caught in the emotions, her voice catching in her throat.
“I’ve never really processed her leaving. I haven’t processed my wife’s death, either. As long as I’ve lived and here we are on my seventy-second birthday—I’ve only learned one thing. Love never really fades the way you think it will. Time does nothing to it. And we can hold onto so much love. It’s insane. It doesn’t seem possible. It seems like we should be like a car gas tank, with a top. We’re not. We’re like endless holes of emotion. And now that I know the two of you, well...”
Dean Swartz paused, lifted his chin, and watched the snow for a long while. “Now that I know what it feels like to know you, I can’t imagine ever going back.”
