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Chapter
Twenty
Bea walked withStewart toward a small, raised platform in the lobby of the performance hall.As she arrived at the back of the crowd, Meredith stepped up onto the stage.Bea had no idea what was going on, but her daughter beamed at her professor, and he did the same back to her.
He looked away and out into the crowd, who’d all gotten the memo to gather here.“We always award our department honors from this stage,” Dr.Bradshaw said.“This year, I’ve asked our student music chair to do some.”
Meredith faced the crowd too, and she shone like a heavenly body.Bea was reminded so much that she loved being on stage, apparently even when it wasn’t big enough to hold a piano.She began to hand out some awards, and then someone stepped up and handed her a massive bouquet of roses in all colors.White, red, purple, yellow, pink, and orange.
“Dr.Bradshaw is retiring this year.”Her face crumbled for half a moment, but long enough for her mother to see.Meredith hitched everything back in place, and it was Bea’s chest storming like a category five hurricane now.Watching her daughter get emotional apparently made her emotional too.
“He’s been such a steady influence in a lot of our lives,” she said.“All of us students pitched in, and we just wanted to say we’re going to miss you.”
“You won’t even be here.”Dr.Bradshaw laughed lightly.Something pained did cross his face, so retiring couldn’t be easy for him.
“You’ve been here for twenty-seven years,” Meredith said.“So we got you twenty-seven roses, and there are twenty-seven gifts.”
“No,” Dr.Bradshaw said as more people flooded the stage.Some of them carried envelopes, one a potted plant, one a shoe box.Each gift got laughed over and thanked for, and then Meredith gave the bouquet to an older woman.
“Nancy, we know you’ve put up with a lot of us at your house at all hours of the night.With your husband getting prank boxes of cookies, and with scores of performances.”
Nancy wept too, though her smile never wavered.
“So.”Meredith held up one more envelope, this one pink.“We got you this.”
She handed it to Nancy, and then moved in for a hug.Meredith stepped back out of the way while Nancy opened her envelope and screamed a scream of joy.
“What is that?”Dr.Bradshaw asked, reaching for the slip his wife had pulled out.Bea found she wanted to know too, and her heart beat extra fast.“No,” Dr.Bradshaw said.“No, we can’t accept this.”
“Non-refundable,” Meredith called.“You can’t give it back.”
The Bradshaws stood there, mute, and someone called, “What is it, professor?”
Nancy plucked it from her husband’s fingers, and still weeping, said, “It’s a trip to Germany.”She looked at her husband.“We’ve always wanted to go to Germany.”
“And now you’ll have time,” Meredith said.Everyone began to clear the stage, even Nancy, but Dr.Bradshaw didn’t go.Another man in another suit handed him a plaque and an envelope, and he cleared his throat.
“We only have one award left,” he said.“It’s not a trip to Germany.”The crowd twittered, and the professor looked out into and around at the crowd.“This is our music department of excellence award.I don’t even give it out every year; only when I feel there’s a student who’s so exceptional and so deserving.”
His smile wavered, and he cleared his throat.“This year, I’m pleased to award this highest level of achievement and accolade to Meredith Callahan.”
“Oh!”Bea couldn’t see her daughter anymore, but as the applause and whooping started, she emerged from the crowd again, pure shock on her face as she stepped up the few steps to the stage.
Her brothers cheered for her, as did Stewart.Of course, at this moment when cheering would be acceptable, Nort stood as silent as a statue.
Bea did her best to add her voice to the fray, her love for her daughter doubling and then tripling.She couldn’t wait to see what her children would do with their lives, because she loved them so much and wanted to be there with them as they achieved amazing things.
A voice whispered in her mind that it would be easier to attend things like this if she stayed in Texas, but she silenced it quickly.Now was not the time to make any decisions.At least permanent ones.
“You knew,” Bea said, turning to Stewart and popping him on the bicep.
He laughed as he flinched away from her.“Maybe a little bit,” he said.“Don’t be mad, Bea.Even she didn’t know.”
By the shell-shocked look on her face, no, Meredith hadn’t known.The award ceremony ended, and families started to regroup and head for the exit.Bea once again found herself in an odd position, and she wished for at least the tenth time that she’d thought to invite Grant to attend this concert with her.
At the same time, she couldn’t even imagine what her children’s reactions would be to that, and she decided being here alone, only a couple of weeks post-divorce, was the right thing.
“Mama, put thatpitcher down.”Bea raced toward her elderly mother, disgust mingling with fear as she took the glass pitcher full of iced tea from her mom’s frail hands.“You don’t need to be doing anything.Go sit.Go.”She barked the last couple of words at her mama, because if she didn’t, her mother wouldn’t listen to her.
