for her kids. They had some perfectly good toys, a whole plastic laundry basket full, but these were so much better. There was a spire that played music when the brightly colored plastic hoops were stacked on it. There was a toy that mimicked the animal noises. A cow says moooo… . Another toy had an arrow that pointed to a number or a letter—and this one spoke in either Spanish or English. And there were several books.
Nora sat at their small table and watched. Fay was struggling to get down off her lap.
“Let her come, Nora, it’s okay—these are all safe for a one-year-old. I double-checked.” Then he lifted his eyes to Berry. “These are for you and Fay, Berry,” he said calmly, softly. “You can keep them and play with them.” He lifted a book. “When you feel like it, we’ll read a story.”
“It’s okay, Berry,” Nora said. “This is your…” She didn’t finish.
“Say grandpa, Nora. Then whatever they want to call me, that’s it. My friend, Susan, who is a grandmother, her grands call me Papa.”
“Berry doesn’t talk very much,” Nora said. “She’s so shy.”
“Nothing wrong with being cautious,” he said easily. “I’m shy, too.”
“You are, aren’t you? I think I remember that about you!”
“It was always easier for me to read and write than to interact. Probably how I ended up on the faculty. I can lecture because it’s prepared. I can write a great paper and defend it. I can talk to students about their work, their grades, their schedules. But when they bring me personal issues, I freeze. I’m determined to do better with you. And your children.” He pulled out something else, a mesh bag of large, beautifully colored plastic blocks with letters on them. For now, Berry could stack them; eventually she could line them up and make words. He unfolded a very small play stroller, added a little doll and a doll-size diaper bag.
Fay was immediately drawn to the bright colors and Jed showed her how to make them tinkle and sing and talk.
“How did you get up here so fast?” Nora asked. “What time did you leave this morning?”
“I came last evening. I stayed over in a motel in Fortuna. I didn’t want to waste a minute.” Then with a slight flush he said, “There’s more, Nora.”
“More what?”
“Things for the girls.”
“Oh, Jed, that wasn’t necessary. I don’t want them to think that every time they see you there will be presents.”
“I thought of that. I left everything in bags. You can put them away in a closet and when the girls are asleep, take them out and look at them, give them things when I’m not here so they don’t think, you know…”
“Think what?”
“That I’m Santa Claus or something. But it was such an experience, like I’ve never had before. When Susan’s grandchildren came, I went shopping with her and she was a crazy fool—throwing things in carts, literally losing her mind! I thought she’d gone mad.” He shrugged. “Then I suddenly had grandchildren and… Lord, I couldn’t stop myself. Don’t think she didn’t get the biggest kick out of it.”
“Susan?” she asked.
“Haven’t I mentioned her before today? She’s a professor, but I met her fifteen years ago when she was a student. Not my student, but an older woman, finishing her degree once her children were nearly raised. Younger than I.”
“And she’s your girlfriend?”
He gave a nod and another slight blush. “I guess you could say. A few years after my divorce, ten years after hers, we began seeing each other. She’s more a close friend than anything. We don’t live together, we’re not engaged. I’d like you to meet her. She’s nice.” Jed pulled a large, glossy book out of his bag and held it up so that Berry could see. “Princess stories,” he said. “Susan’s granddaughters love them. They’re princesses every Halloween.”
Berry came slowly forward, chewing on a finger. The brightly colored princesses on the cover got her. He let her take the book out of his hand and she immediately backed toward Nora. Leaning against her mother’s legs, she opened the beautiful book.
And Nora’s eyes clouded with tears. She sniffed.
Jed looked at her. “Are you crying?” he asked.
She shook her head, but she pursed her lips together tightly, not trusting herself to speak.