CHAPTERNINE
Hayden
“I’msorry to do this to you,” Janie says as she leaves me standing at my teller station by myself.
I’m so confused. “Do what to me?”
“You’ll see.” She gives me a little wave as she quickly walks out from behind the desks.
Looking around the lobby of the bank, there doesn’t seem to be anything that would make her want to leave me here by myself. Just a white-haired woman with a little hunch to her back. I don’t recognize her; maybe she moved here after I left. Either way, this should be a quick transaction.
“Good morning.” I smile to welcome her.
She smiles back, putting her pocketbook on the counter. “You must be new here; I’ve never seen you before.” Her gray eyes go to my name tag. “Hayden. What an unusual name.”
“It’s my grandmother’s maiden name.” My tone is one of pride. I love being able to share with others where it came from. “What can I help you with today?”
The quietness in the room unnerves me so much I look around and notice all the other tellers are gone. There’s only one person remaining at the drive-thru station. She gives me a slight grin and a thumbs up. I have absolutely no idea what’s going on and now I’m kind of nervous.
The older woman thumbs through her bag before holding up a bunch of papers. “I can’t seem to get my checkbook to balance, honey. Is there any way you can help me?”
There it is.
Before I can ask, she’s moving ahead with her request. “There’s no one at home to help me. My husband passed away last year and we didn’t have any children.”
My heart aches for her, reminding me of what my dad might go through. As far as I know, he hasn’t dated anyone since he and mom got divorced. He has to be lonely, but he never shows it. The consolation is at least he has us.
Without wanting her to, my mom pops up in my brain. Because she left us, is this what she has to look forward to? As much as I hate her for leaving us, I hope someone would take the time to be nice to her. Which is why I make a promise to myself. Every time this woman comes in here, I’ll help her, no matter what I have going on. I’ll make it a point to be the person I would want others to be to my parents.
“Sure,” I answer past the lump in my throat. “Can you give me your account number? I’ll print out the detail and we’ll go over there.” I point to an empty desk. “And go through it together. Would that be okay?”
Relief shines bright in her eyes. “That would be great.” She pushes her checkbook to me. “Here’s my account number and my license is inside.”
The name on the check reads Mrs. Grant Thomas.
My heart.
Underneath her name, there’s a notation of how long her account has been opened here. The year is nineteen fifty-six. She must notice me eyeing it.
“We got married on my eighteenth birthday. Came here three days later and opened up our account. Can’t bring myself to change the name on it.” Her voice is barely more than a whisper.
“I think it’s just perfect.” I give her a smile.
Pressing a button, I print out what I need. Grabbing a pen, I come around the bank of counters and walk over to where she’s slowly making her way to the desk I’d pointed out. Easily, I take her arm, giving her support.
She looks up, thankfulness washing over her face.
“You can have a seat right here.” I pull out the chair for her. Once she’s settled, I get into my own and put all the paperwork in front of me. “Now, what do we have here?”
“These are my receipts,” she explains, the crumpled up wad she handed me earlier sitting between us.
A thought dawns on me. “Has anyone ever showed you how to keep stuff situated?”
“No.” She shakes her head. “This is what Grant always told me to do and it’s what I’ve always done.”
Then no one’s ever taken the time to try and make it easier on her, and on them. Which irritates me more than it should. There’s no reason someone couldn’t have been nice enough to explain all of this to her.
“Okay.” I put my hand over hers. “Let me go get us a few things that’s going to make this easier from now on. You’re welcome to come in here every month and I’ll help you, but I’ll need you to do a few things that’ll help me.”