Trudy poured hot water into three antique teacups, which were plated on saucers. Sadie pulled down small plates and napkins for the pastries, and Charlie watched as they worked around one another, as if anticipating one to say something, but neither did.
Trudy carried over a small box filled with tea bags to the table and set them in front of him.
“It was nice of you to bring pastries. I go into that coffee shop when I’m on that side of town. I don’t remember seeing you there,” she said as she went back for the teacups.
“Oh, I’m around. I’m in graduate school as well, so sometimes I work odd hours. Sadie had never seen me there either,” he admitted, and Sadie smiled at him.
Trudy shifted a look between them. “Then how did you meet?”
Sadie walked to the table with the plates. “Leona.”
“Ohhh,” her mother drew out the word. “How is Leona?”
“She’s wonderful. The store has been very busy.”
“Hmmm,” her mother again drew out the sound. “Well, that’s nice. I’m surprised I haven’t met you yet, Charles. Or heard much about you.”
And there they had it, he thought. This was where things would go south. He’d seen Sadie flinch, so he reached for her hand and covered it with hers to let her know he’d take the lead.
“There isn’t much to tell about me. I work. I go to school. I’m in town quite a bit, so I don’t have a car to get out this way. But Sadie and I both have a love of coffee and books. Actually, my grandmother has a love of books. I was buying her books when I met Sadie.”
She gave him a grateful look.
“You were buying your grandmother books?” Trudy carried two cups to the table, and Sadie went for the last one.
“I was. She’s in a care facility, but she has a thing for old movie stars. I’d bought her a book on Vivian Leigh. But, funny story, when I gave her the book, it was a different book. The woman at the store got them mixed up. She’d given me Sadie’s book, and her the one on Vivian Leigh. But my grandmother loved it. She hadn’t called me by name in a long time, but she did after she read it.”
Trudy sat down next to him and picked a tea bag, which she ripped into. “That’s quite a story.”
“Oh, she’s quite a woman,” he kept talking and he noticed the slightest curl on Sadie’s lips as she sat quietly. “She’s had dementia for a bit. She humors us when we visit, on days she doesn’t know us. She never makes us feel as if we’re strangers who have come to hurt her. But, she’s quiet. Then there are days, like when I took her the book and she’d read it, and she remembered me, she talked to Sadie, and my dad, who doesn’t like to sit there and only checks in on her, had been visiting too. She even called for me to come back to see her. It’s been remarkable.”
Trudy looked at Sadie. “You’ve met his grandmother?”
Sadie bit down on a pastry and nodded. “I have. I wanted to make sure she got the right book.”
Trudy scowled but then turned her attention back to Charlie. “It all sounds very sweet.” She pursed her lips. “Did Sadie tell you she’s currently unemployed?”
Charlie noticed Sadie’s reaction to her mother’s malicious remark, and he hurried to talk again. “She did. We talked about getting her a job at the coffee shop too. It’s so close to where she lives, and the people that own it are extremely caring. We have a woman going on maternity leave next week, and we all know she’s not coming back. It’s a great opportunity for Sadie to start there.”
He knew she was grateful for him jumping in. He wasn’t sure he could keep talking like he was, though. He was wearing out. Charlie had to assume this was why Sadie would get worked up when she mentioned her mother.
“That sounds nice,” Trudy pushed her teacup away. “I hadn’t expected to see you today,” her mother said with barely a glance out of the side of her eye.
“Charlie wanted to meet you,” Sadie said sweetly.
He took a bite from his pastry. “I did. She said you didn’t have plans. So, I appreciate you letting us visit.”
Trudy’s shoulders softened. “It’s been nice.”
They’d visited for an hour before Trudy began tapping her fingers on the table, and Charlie knew that was a tell for her. He’d wanted to show her the ring he was going to give to Sadie, but over the course of that hour, he’d defused more potential bombs than he could have imagined.
No, he didn’t see Sadie in her mother at all, and he felt for Trudy. It had to be miserable to be so lonely and so angry at the only person who truly loved her.
Trudy had excused herself to lay down, and Sadie cleaned up the kitchen. Charlie helped her dry the cups, and they left the pastry box on the table.
“Thank you,” Sadie whispered.
“You don’t have to thank me.”
“You kept her calm.”
“I’ve had practice with my grandmother, I guess. All I did was keep talking.”
She leaned into him as she turned off the water at the sink. “I love you.”
“I love you too. And for the record, I know you’re nothing alike.”