1105 Yakima Street - Debbie Macomber [36]
“A boy…it’s a boy!” Corrie cried.
Roy tore his gaze away from Gloria and went to Corrie’s side. He placed his hands on her shoulders while she spoke excitedly into the receiver. “Yes, yes. I’ll phone you as soon as I’ve got the flight numbers and times.” Tears welled in her eyes. “Yes, yes, give Linnette my love and tell her how thrilled Roy and I are.”
She hung up, then threw her arms around Roy. “We have a grandson,” she said in a quavering voice. “Linnette had a boy. They’ve named him Gregory Paul.”
“Gregory Paul,” Roy repeated, nodding approvingly. “That’s a nice, solid name.”
“How’s Linnette?” Gloria asked.
“Fabulous. Pete said she was a real trouper. Gregory weighed over eight pounds and is almost twenty inches long.”
“He’s a big boy,” Roy said, smiling proudly. “Corrie, we have our first grandson.” His eyes shone with pleasure and they hugged each other tightly.
“That makes me an aunt for the second time,” Gloria whispered.
“Oh, my goodness, I’ve got to get on the internet and book my flight.” Corrie raced out of the kitchen.
“I’ll call Mack and Mary Jo and tell them,” Roy said, heading off in another direction.
“I can help,” Gloria offered. She glanced around the kitchen and got to work finishing the casserole Corrie had started. She was about to place it in the freezer when Roy came back.
“Corrie’s looking through her suitcase one final time.”
“She’s arranged her flight then?”
He nodded. “Before we end here, I wanted to be sure everything’s square between you and me.”
Gloria considered the question. “It’s square.”
“Good.”
That was all he said. Then Roy was back to his paper, looking more at peace than she’d seen him in a long while.
Gloria left about an hour later. She stopped at the grocery store on her way home; as she climbed out of her car she began to cry, standing there in the darkened lot, sobbing.
Gloria wasn’t easily given to tears. If anything, she kept her emotions hidden and rarely if ever revealed them to others.
The tears were an obvious reaction to the birth of her sister’s son, and to seeing how happy and excited Corrie and Roy were. That had to be it.
Only it was much more. Instinctively Gloria recognized that this went beyond the joy she felt for her sister.
This had to do with Chad.
Eleven
Thursday evening, feeling depressed, Bruce walked into the house and found Jolene working cheerfully in the kitchen.
“I’m making tacos for dinner,” she announced. “They’re your favorite, right?”
He tossed the mail on the kitchen counter and realized she was waiting for him to comment. “Sure,” he said without enthusiasm. His mind wasn’t on dinner but on what he’d just learned. He needed time to absorb this latest news about Rachel before he could deal with his daughter’s chatter. Until recently, he’d never noticed how much attention Jolene required.
“You’re late,” she said as she shredded cheese with unnecessary vigor. “I bet you went to the salon to talk to Rachel.” She paused and then added, “Again.”
He ignored the question in her voice, but that was exactly what he’d done.
“So how is Rachel?” Jolene asked.
Bruce doubted his daughter cared. He shrugged in response. Removing his jacket, he hung it in the closet and started down the hall.
“Dinner will be ready in ten minutes,” Jolene called after him.
“Okay.”
Bruce washed his hands and by the time he returned to the kitchen, Jolene had set the table and placed the serving dishes in the center.
Bruce pulled out a chair and sat down.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” Jolene asked as if his silence had offended her. Her voice had a singsong quality that reminded him of when she was much younger.
“About what?”
“Dinner! I worked really hard on this and the least you could do is tell me I did a good job.”
Bruce looked at the table; it was obvious that she’d put some effort into this meal. “It’s very nice, Jolene. Thank you.”
Apparently pacified, she pulled out her own chair