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Charles winked at me. “I knew she was sick. She told me right away. She told me everything. I saw her as much as possible. It got really hard on the bad days though. And when she became more immobile. It almost became impossible to see her. That part broke my heart. But we talked on the phone every night.”
“You talked to her on the phone when I was living there?” Hazel asked.
“Did more than that,” Charles said. “I would visit while you were at work.”
“This gets crazier by the second,” she whispered.
“I gave her all that stuff back the last time I saw her,” Charles said. “I wanted her to have those memories for herself. To look back at our love. To remember it. I knew when she knew it was time to go, she was so sad. Worried about you, Hazel. Worried about her house. The condition it was in. Never selfish. Ever.”
“Can I ask a question about those pictures?” I asked. Hazel looked at me. “With Hazel’s permission, of course.”
“Hazel?” Charles asked.
She nodded.
“I don’t mean this in the wrong way,” I said. “How did that happen? I mean… the pictures and letters…”
“That’s a longer story,” Charles said. “She believed in temptation. That was our thing. We loved to be secretive. It felt like a forbidden affair. She would send me pictures and I would write her letters.”
“Did you ever send any pictures to her?” I asked.
“No,” Charles said. “I offered. She just wanted to tease me with herself. I really loved her.Loved.I still love her.”
“How did it all start?” Hazel asked. “Why didn’t she tell me? Are you married? Do you have kids?”
“Well, if you want to know the truth…” Charles took a drink of his beer. “I was in an unhappy marriage for a long time. I built my life through businesses. I once was a happy surfer. I smoked a lot of weed. I surfed. I wrote poetry. I thought I’d be someone famous someday but it just didn’t work out. I guess at some point I tried to grow up. I had a knack for business.”
“What does that have to do with her grandmother?” I asked.
“See? Now I’m just an old man babbling.”
“It’s okay,” Hazel said. “Ignore Atlas. He’s just mean all the time.”
“Hazel,” Charles said. He put his beer bottle down and touched her arms. “This is what I can tell you. I wasn’t happy. Money. A nice house. It’s not enough in life. It’s nothing actually. My wife and I were only together for the image. The tax benefits, if you believe it. We were two different people from the day we met. We knew it. I wanted to change her. She wanted to change me. Then we found out we couldn’t have kids. I met your grandmother and a fire was set off inside me.”
“How long, Charles?”
“Twenty years this June.”
“Holy shit,” I said. “You were having an affair for twenty years?”
“I promise you I never put your grandmother in a bad position,” Charles said. “I ended my marriage and moved into this house before anything happened.”
“But you did it because of her,” Hazel said.
Charles nodded.
Hazel turned and walked away.
“How did you meet her?” I asked.
“She was broken down on the side of the road,” Charles said. “So I did the kind thing and pulled over behind her. She came running out of her car after me like I was trying to hurt her. Yelling at me that she didn’t need my help. That it wasn’t my job to stop and save her.”
I let out a loudHa!sound.
“Sounds like someone I know,” I said.
“Shut up,” Hazel said.
