The Moment Keeper Read online

  She winked. “We’ll enjoy that tomorrow.”

  Neither of us said too much on the taxi ride home. We were too stuffed.

  “Thanks, Gram,” I said. “That was the best birthday ever.”

  Grandma smiled and wrapped her arm around me. “The best birthday for my best girl.”

  Chapter 31

  “This is amazing,” Delaney said. “The food, decorations, music. It must have cost a mint. And your dress. It’s incredible.”

  “Think so?” Olivia twirls around in her black sequin strapless dress.

  “Know so.”

  “Well, glad you’re having a good time.”

  Delaney’s eyes sweep the ballroom decorated in pink and black. Everything is perfectly coordinated, from the white tablecloths accented with fuchsia napkins to the white chair covers with fuchsia sashes to the black glass vases with fuchsia roses on each table. “Good time? How about the most awesome time ever?” Delaney says.

  Olivia watches as Jackie pulls Delaney back onto the Italian marble dance floor.

  Cole, also dressed in black, bends over to kiss Olivia. “She’s right. This is one hell of a party your parents gave you.”

  “I know. Kind of feel bad about it. But it’s what they wanted to do.”

  “Well, if they’ve done all this for your sixteenth birthday, I can only imagine what your wedding will be like.”

  Olivia bites her lower lip. “I was sort of hoping you’d be there for that.”

  Cole smiles and kisses her again.

  “There you two are,” Olivia’s mom says. “Dad and I are heading home but you stay and enjoy yourselves. The party planner will oversee everything and make sure all of your gifts are taken back to the house.”

  “Are you OK, Mom?”

  “Yes, sweetie. Just a little tired. There’s just kids here now and Dad and I figured we’d let you and your friends party without us hanging around.”

  Olivia kisses her mom, who’s wearing a silk black dress with a fuchsia headwrap. “Thanks, Mom. It was an incredible party. I will never forget it as long as I live.”

  “It did turn out rather well,” Elizabeth says. “I especially liked the candy buffet.”

  The party planner had arranged a candy buffet that was filled with every kind of sweet imaginable – from homemade chocolates to hand-dipped cake pops. Each guest was given a tin – custom ordered with Olivia’s picture on it – to take to the candy buffet and fill. It was Olivia’s gift to them.

  Olivia’s dad, dressed in a black suit and fuchsia tie, walks up. “I see you found our birthday girl.”

  “I was just telling her that we’re going to head home and that she and her friends can stay another hour,” Elizabeth says.

  “That OK with you, Lib?” Tom asks.

  “Of course, Dad. And thank you for the wonderful party. You’re the absolute best.”

  “Nothing’s too good for my little girl,” says Tom, kissing Olivia on the forehead.

  “Will you dance with me before you go?” Olivia asks.

  “You bet,” Tom says. “What should I tell the DJ to play?”

  “Surprise me.”

  Tom talks to the DJ and whisks Olivia out onto the floor. The DJ announces that Olivia and her father will dance and the guests clear the area.

  Cole sits with Elizabeth and watches. “Daddy’s Little Girl” blares from the speakers and Olivia and her dad float across the floor, from one side to the other and from end to end.

  “I would never be able to dance like that,” Cole whispers to Elizabeth.

  “Sure you could. It just takes practice. I’m sure Libby would teach you.”

  Elizabeth opens her purse and takes out a tissue and dabs her eyes.

  “You OK, Mrs. K?”

  Elizabeth smiles. “Yes. Happy, that’s all.”

  I can’t describe how it felt to watch Tom dance with Olivia. Moments of the two of them over the years flashed before me. Tom holding her for the first time. Tom singing to her. Rocking her. Feeding her. Crawling around on all fours with Olivia on his back. Bringing home yet another stuffed animal. Picking her up and twirling her around as she giggles. Tucking her in bed at night.

  Olivia was so lucky to have Tom as a father. If Matt ever held me, I was too young to remember. He never sang to me or rocked me or fed me. Or tucked me in at night. It was Gram who did all that. Gram who was my mother and my father, who even as she lay dying was more concerned about me than about herself.

  I realized that that’s the kind of love that can’t be bought or sold. You can’t barter for it or bid on it. It just is. And those who realize the power of love realize that with it, anything’s possible.

  “Sarah,” Grandma said one day. “When I’m gone…”

  “Don’t talk like that, Gram.”

  She looked at me with tired eyes. They seemed to be closed more often than they were open these days. The extra skin on her eyelids sagged more than usual and it seemed as if the wrinkles that creased her face had deepened and multiplied overnight.

  “When I’m gone…” she licked her dry, caked lips “…don’t spend a lot of money on a gravestone. I don’t need one. That marker the funeral home puts in the ground will be just fine.”

  “Gram, seriously. Stop it.”

  “And bury me in that floral dress I only wear for really special occasions. You know the one. I wore it when we went to that fancy restaurant to celebrate your sixteenth birthday.”

  “Gram.”

  She looked at me and narrowed her eyes. “You take whatever money we have and you go to college. OK?”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  “Sarah, I mean it. I talked to Mr. Little. He’ll take care of this old body when I’m done with it. Just call him. He knows what to do.”

  I stopped listening to Gram. I felt the life inside of me kick and I just couldn’t imagine having this child without Gram or Bryan. I didn’t know if it was a boy or girl. All I knew was that I couldn’t be its mother – alone. And if I couldn’t be its mother, then what was I going to do?

  There were times when I wanted to tell Gram everything. Times when I needed to tell her. Needed her advice or words of wisdom. But I didn’t say anything. She was too sick and there was no way I was going to give her more troubles to think about.

  Even at school I was more quiet than normal. I don’t know if Tracey Carmichael was growing out of her meanness or if she just stopped caring about me, but even she wasn’t hassling me as much.

  Cole and Olivia say goodbye to the last guest and head to the car.

  “Did you notice how much Lexie and Bryce danced?” Olivia says. “Seemed to be some fireworks there.”

  “Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

  “How could you not notice? Every time there was a slow song, Bryce and Lexie danced. He didn’t let anyone else get near her.”

  Cole opens the car door for Olivia. “Only girls notice that kind of stuff.”

  Olivia turns toward Cole. “Did you notice the dress Ann was wearing?”

  “Yes. Now that I noticed.”

  Olivia hits him. “Figures! Now how could you notice that and not notice Lexie and Bryce dancing to every slow song?”

  “Uh. I don’t know.”

  “Could it be because there wasn’t much to Ann’s dress?”

  “Uh. I hadn’t noticed.”

  “Seriously, Cole. Fess up.”

  “Well, it was pretty revealing. I thought for a minute that she had one of those boob jobs.”

  “For the record, no boob job. I think she was wearing a push-up bra.”

  “A what?”

  “Push-up bra. It’s padded and makes your breasts look bigger. They make some that add two sizes.”

  Olivia climbs in the car and Cole walks around to the other side and gets in.

  “You know, Lib, that was a great party. And you were the most beautiful girl in the whole place.”

  “Nice recover.”

  “No, seriously.” He reaches a
nd brushes the blonde curls off her face, dusted with sparkly glitter. “I love everything about you and I love that you love me.”

  Instinctively they lean toward one another and fall into a deep kiss.

  I remember the first time Cole told Olivia that he loved her. They were sitting on swings in Olivia’s backyard. Stars blanketed the sky and Olivia pointed out the Big Dipper. Cole explained that the Big Dipper is formed from the seven brightest stars in the constellation Ursa Major, or Great Bear. And that according to Greek mythology, Zeus’ wife, jealous over his lust for a woman named Callisto, turned her into a bear. Callisto, while in bear form, encountered her son and just as he was about to kill her, not realizing it was his mother, Zeus hurls them both into the sky forming Ursa Major.

  “How do you know such random stuff?” Olivia asked him.

  They twisted their swings so they were facing each other.

  “Here’s something I know that’s not random. Something I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time.”

  Olivia bit her lower lip and tilted her head so her long curls cascaded down her left shoulder. Cole took her hands in his.

  “I love you, Lib.”

  And they kissed and got carried away and fell off the swings. Daisy, who had been chewing a bone nearby, started to bark at the commotion.

  I will never forget that moment. It’s one I’ll show Olivia at the end.

  “I better get you home,” Cole says. “I promised your mom and dad we wouldn’t be out late. But, I do want to give you my gift.”

  Cole hands Olivia a long rectangular box. She peels back the pink and silver swirly paper, folding it to save. She opens the box and her jaw drops.

  “It’s beautiful, Cole.” She lifts the silver heart-shaped pendant encrusted with small diamonds out of the box.

  “Are you sure you like it?”

  “No.” Olivia pauses. “I love it. Can you put it on?”

  Olivia turns her back to Cole and he puts it around her creamy neck and fastens it. He kisses the nape of her neck. “God, you’re beautiful.”

  She turns around to find his lips once more and eventually they head home.

  Bryan gave me a heart pendant once. Of course, it was nothing like the one Cole gave Olivia. I’m pretty sure those were real diamonds. I saw the necklace Bryan bought me at a boutique in the mall. Still, I loved that necklace. It was the first and only time a guy ever gave me anything. It, too, was silver. No diamonds, though. Not even fake ones. But it was beautiful and I never took it off. Well, not until the end anyway.

  Bryan was so excited the day he gave me the necklace. He picked me up after my shift at the grocery store. When I got in his car, I noticed his I-got-a-secret grin. It was the one where his closed mouth was higher on the left and pushed his cheek into his eye making his eye squint.

  “Why are you grinning?” I asked. “You look like you’re up to something.”

  “There’s something for you inside the glove box.”

  I looked toward the box.

  “Go ahead. Get it.”

  I opened the glove box and found a long, rectangular gift wrapped in newspaper. I took it out. “Want me to open it now?”

  Bryan nodded. I could tell he was happy. His eyes danced in the moonlight that seeped through the car windows. He held his breath while I tore off the paper and lifted the lid.

  “Bryan, it’s beautiful,” I said, taking the necklace out of the box.

  “I just wanted you to know that you’ll always have my heart, even when I’m not with you. This is a reminder.”

  Tears gathered in my eyes. It was such a lovely thing to say and I wondered if he had practiced it much or if it just came to him. Either way I felt loved and wanted, which was why it was so hard for me when Bryan ditched me. No phone call. No last-minute visit. Nothing. How can you love someone so much and then just leave? Maybe that’s it. Maybe he didn’t love me as much as he said he did. Or maybe I made more of it than what was there.

  As cruel as Tracey Carmichael had been to me my entire life, what Bryan did hurt me so much more. And the life growing inside of me each day was a reminder of the love we had and the love that was gone, to where I had no idea. All I knew was that it wasn’t with me.

  I kept the necklace on, mostly out of hope that he would show up one day and tell me what a big jerk he had been. But he never showed up.

  Chapter 32

  Olivia jumps up and down in front of her mom, who is wearing a Bohemian floral head wrap instead of one of her custom-made wigs.

  “So you really mean it, Mom? You’re better?”

  “That’s what the doctor says. Everything is looking good.”

  “How should we celebrate?” says Olivia, hugging her mom.

  “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

  “I’m all ears, Mom.”

  “Dad and I were thinking about going away for the weekend.”

  “Like where? And can Lexie come?”

  Elizabeth bites her lip. “Dad and I were thinking that just we would go away.”

  “No problem. You’re right. It should be a family thing. No Lexie.”

  “Look, Lib,” Elizabeth says. “You know Dad and I love you. You’re the most important person in the whole world to us. But, well, we were thinking that just maybe the two of us would go away. You know. Kind of like a couple.”

  Olivia hits her forehead with the palm of her hand. “Why didn’t you say so? Of course. Not a problem. Yes. Just you and Dad. How romantic.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that. We haven’t gone away for a weekend, just the two of us, since you came into our lives. And, well, with the cancer and all. Dad just thought that maybe it’s about time we did. Plus you’re older. Grandma said she would come over if you wanted her to.”

  “Mom. I’m sixteen. I think I can take care of myself for a few days. I think a romantic getaway is just what you and Dad need. It doesn’t take a doctor to know that you both have been super stressed lately and need some time alone to reconnect and unwind. Besides, I’m sure Lexie will come over if I ask her.”

  I knew that Olivia had no plans to ask Lexie. As soon as she understood what her mom was trying to tell her and realized she would have the whole house to herself, something that had never happened, her mind shifted to Cole. How she could cook him a romantic dinner, hang out all night, watch their favorite movies and make out.

  “So you’re sure you’re not mad?” Elizabeth asks.

  Olivia is lost in her daydreams.

  “Lib?”

  “Oh, what? What?” Olivia says. “Did you say something?”

  “I just want to make sure you’re not mad.”

  “I’m not mad, Mom. I’m happy. Happy that you’re better. Happy that you and Dad are going away for the weekend. Happy that you adopted me and raised me and love me with all your hearts. Happy that I have the two best parents in the whole world.”

  “You know, Lib, when we got you our lives changed forever. We had hoped for a child for so long. Dad wanted to name you Hope because you were everything we had hoped for. I had promised my grandmother that if I ever had a daughter I would name my daughter after her. So, you became Olivia Hope.”

  “How come you didn’t tell me that before?” Olivia asks. “I mean, I knew I was named after your grandmother, but I didn’t know the Hope part, that Dad picked that name and why.”

  “Well, now you know, sweetie. You’re everything and much more than we had hoped for.”

  “Mom,” Olivia says, “I love you so much.” And she hugs her mother so tightly Elizabeth coughs.

  If I had lived and had a daughter, I would have named her after Grandma, which means she would have been named Grace. And I would have given her my mom’s first name as her middle name, so she would have been named Grace Sue. I love that it pays respect to the two most important women in my life – the woman who gave her life for mine and the woman who raised me.

  It took Grandma dying to finally tell me about my mom and my birt
h. How my mom had a lump on her back. How by the time she went to the doctors to have it checked, she was pregnant with me. How it was melanoma, the deadliest type of skin cancer. How the doctors told her that they could try to save her but it meant she would have to abort me. How Matt pleaded with her to get rid of me. Told her that they could have other babies. That she had to have the chemo. But she refused.

  And so, as I grew in her, she grew weaker and weaker. By the time my due date approached, Grandma said my mom was bedridden. Her days dwindling. The end came much more quickly than anyone had expected. Mom was whisked into a bay in the emergency room on a sunny summer morning and delivered me via Caesarean and then died.

  I asked Grandma if my mom saw me before she died. If she knew I had lived. Neither Gram nor Matt was allowed in the room while I was born. Everything was going wrong and the doctors didn’t want them in the way, Grandma explained.

  “But,” Grandma said, “there was a nurse there and she came to visit a few weeks later. Said she’d been having trouble sleeping. Felt awful about your mom and you. Just had to see you. And she told me that she was right beside your mom when you were born and that the doctor laid you on your mom’s chest and that your mom felt you against her skin and smiled and then died. Just like that. She was waitin’ for you to be born. Making sure you were gonna be all right. And as soon as she knew, she stopped fighting to live and went to where she needed to go.”

  Now that I know about moment keepers, I wonder about my mom. Who she’s keeping moments for. Or if she even has someone yet. Wendy told me that moment keepers don’t always return right away like me. Some wait years. It all depends on the great matchmaker. He decides who is going to be a moment keeper for whom and it’s not always who you think it might be or should be. Most times, Wendy said, there’s no relationship to the person in real life. I didn’t know Wendy. She wasn’t a relative or a neighbor. I had never even seen her before. And yet she was chosen for me for some reason. A reason I’m sure became known to Wendy at some point, or maybe not until the end.