Chapter 5

Chapter Five

The next morning, by the time Mark and I come down stairs, the girls are dressed and eating breakfast.

“Wow, you two are up and about early for a Sunday,” Mark says as he kisses the tops of their heads on his way to the coffee pot.

“We want to get there earlier today so we had more time,” Alana says before taking a bite of her waffle.

Pulling two mugs out of the cabinet I ask, “Get where?”

“Sunny Meadows. Grandma Ruby said she’d tell us about the picture.”

“Oh, honey I don’t think she meant today,” I try to reason.

“But she said she would tell us another day, and today is another day,” Alana whines.

Glancing over at Mark, who offers no assistance but only grins knowing I’ve created a couple of monsters and they won’t relent until they’ve heard the whole story, I sigh and shake my head. “You’re right, she did. I’ll give her a call and see if she’s up to us coming back over today.”

“Thanks Mom,” Alana says as she continues eating her breakfast, while Zoey silently grins, leaving me with the feeling that I’ve just been played by my darling daughters.

* * *

True to my word,after breakfast I called and asked Grandma Ruby if it was okay if we could visit again today. She was more than happy to hear that her great granddaughters actually wanted to spend more time with her and listen to her stories.

As we settle back into the same spots we were in yesterday, Alana looks into the box and pulls out the photo on top of the stack. “Who’s this Grandma Ruby?”

Looking at the photo of a young couple she says, “That’s Millie, she was the first person I met when we moved to California, and my best friend, and that’s her husband Don.” Grandma Ruby smiles, “Millie met Don the same time I met Paul.”

Looking at my daughters, I can practically feel the excitement vibrating off them, waiting for Grandma to continue with her story. Slipping off the sofa, I take my phone and capture the moment, knowing this will be a favorite memory for them in the future when they look back with their own children.

Resuming my place beside Alana, I muse, “I bet you two got into all kinds of trouble.”

Grandma laughs, “Millie was something else. Like me, Millie had grown up in a military family. We both had older siblings and had learned a few tricks from them over the years. Of course, that also meant we had to be extra careful, because our parents had already dealt with most situations.”

Looking over Alana’s shoulder at the picture Grandma holds in her hand I ask, “How did you meet Paul?”

“We met at a dance. As I told you yesterday, my Father had been promoted to Admiral, so not only was he well known on base, so was I.” Grandma Ruby laughs, “Of course I was also off limits to any of the enlisted men, because I was the Admiral’s daughter, and no one wanted to face the wrath of Admiral Thorpe for attempting to court his daughter. Not to mention that I had just turned seventeen when we arrived in California.”

Confused Alana asks, “What’s court mean?”

Smiling I run my hand over her hair, “That’s what they used to call dating.”

“Oh,” she says before turning her attention back to Grandma Ruby.

“At the end of my first week in California, Millie decided that I needed to see more than just the base and dragged me to a dance in town. Of course, the most exciting thing about going to the dance was that there would be boys there, boys that I could actually talk to and dance with, without my father scaring them off.”

Grandma Ruby smiles, and then continues, “During the time my father was in the Navy, when a new commanding officer arrived on base there were ceremonies and dinners nonstop for a month. Millie and I spent almost every Friday and Saturday night at the dance in town. Our mothers used to tease that we were joined at the hip, because wherever you saw one of us you saw the other.”

Taking Zoey and Alana’s hand in each of hers, Grandma Ruby says, “I hope one day you both have a friend like I did in Millie.”

Alana lays her head against Grandma’s shoulder and reaches down and squeezes her hand, essentially melting my heart, and asks, “Do you still hear from Millie?”

“A few times a year. She moved to South Carolina with her son and his family after Don passed away.”

Having heard enough backstory, Zoey says, “Grandma Ruby, tell us about Paul. By the way it looks in those pictures, you two were pretty close. Was he your first love?”

Smiling she pats Zoey’s leg, “So much like your mother, she was never very patient either,” she half whispers to Zoey making me laugh. “And you’re right, Paul was my first love.”

Grandma picks up one of the photos of her and Paul and gently runs her finger across the picture of the two of them. Eyes shining with remembrance, she says, “This old mind might not remember what I had for breakfast most days, but I remember the night we met like it was yesterday.”

“We had been in California for a little over a year, and Millie and I attended the weekend dances in town whenever we could.” Laughing she says, “Having a dance partner was one thing neither Millie nor I had to worry about. We met and danced with a lot of nice, respectful boys, but no one special until that night.” Knowing Zoey is the future fashionista, Grandma leans her way and says, “You know, I still remember what I was wearing. A pink plaid dress with buttons down the front and a matching belt, with black patent leather shoes. I always like that dress, but it became my favorite after that night.”

Grandma Ruby smiles at the memory then again squeezes the girl’s hands, “It was just a few weeks before my eighteenth birthday.”