Page 68 of My Rose

My grandfather grunted as I closed the door a little too hard, and I mouthed another apology. “So, we aren’t fixing this one then, huh?” I shrugged to myself as I took one last, long glance at the car. There was no way my grandmother had won some giveaway, but I didn’t want to think too much about it. I had a feeling I knew where the car came from as I crossed my arms tightly over my chest, but it would be absurd to think Briggs would just go out and buy them a brand-new car. Maybe my grandmother really had won some ridiculous, small-town giveaway. I couldn’t have meant that much to him, seeing as he said I meant nothing to him in the first place.

“I sold the van and bought another beater—it’s out back. Thought we could fix it up together and finally get you into a car.” His back stiffened as I glared at him.

“You know I almost have enough saved—”

“Yeah, yeah.” He shooed me with his hand. “Now you can use that to find an apartment or something.”

I flicked my nose with my thumb. “Really? You’re fine with me moving out?”

He cocked his hip to the side and put his hand there. “Honey, we’ve been waiting for you to move out for a while.” I tried to hide my flinch. “Not that we don’t love having you here, but sweetie, you are twenty-two, almost twenty-three. You don’t have to stay here forever, you know.”

“I know,” I admitted.

His hand snaked up to scratch the back of his head. “We figured since you have a boyfriend now, you might want to be...well, you might not want to live here anymore. Have some more privacy and all that?” The overgrown whiskers of his brow flicked up as I struggled to make eye contact, settling on nodding my head just to get him to lead me to the back. “How is that going? All good?”

I shrugged, wobbling my head in a nonsensical way. “It’s okay,” I lied. His brow cocked again, but the moment his mouth opened, he snapped it shut as we walked under the carport past piles of shoveled snow toward an older Jeep Wrangler. The fabric top of the car was rolled back, and the tires were lifted to my waist.

“Well, don’t let that boy be a dumbass.” I almost choked on my spit as my grandfather walked up to the back of the Jeep. His head popped over from the side, finding me by the side view mirror. The paint was fading a little where I was tapping my fingers, drawing my grandfather’s gaze. “Everything’s alright with you, right Rose?”

“Yeah, Grandpa.” I rolled back my shoulders. “Really. I’m good.”

“School is going good? Work?”

“Yeah.” I glanced at the ground. “Did mom have a nickname for dad that started with a V?”

His forehead crinkled as he rubbed the back of it with his hand. “Not that I recall. His name was John, a pretty common normie of a guy. Why?”

“No reason.” The letter was maybe a friend, then. I wasn’t even sure why I cared. Maybe I was looking for a connection to her, anything that would help with my current issues I couldn’t avoid for much longer. I walked over to where my grandfather was, noticing the spare tire had already been used, and sighed. “Going to need to fix a few things here with my savings, but I’m sure I can find a place quickly.”

He squeezed my shoulder. “Rose, we aren’t forcing you out. But people your age…they don’t stay home for that long anymore.”

I bit down on my lip and wrapped my arms around my waist, squeezing some of that citrus scent from the leather. “You’re right. Really. I wanted to move out after high school like Min, but I figured you both wanted me to stick around.”

“Always liked that girl, Jasmine. She’s a little crazy, though.” His eyes traveled over my jacket, a silent question written on his face. “We can pitch in to help with expenses, but I did find a place by the college from a listing in the newspaper. Got me thinking more about you moving out and onward”—he tapped on the spare tire—“and how you’ll need a car, too. I know your parents…what they left behind…well—”

“Don’t worry about it. I wanted to help.”

His blue eyes, the same shade as mine and my mother’s, locked on me. “You should have had that money to be a kid. To live. You’d have a new car and a nice home of your own to at least rent, and all of your college expenses would have been covered.” His eyes welled, and I put a hand over his and squeezed.

“I’m happy that I got to help you after all you’ve done for me. I don’t regret it one bit, and neither should you.” His lips quivered. “Getting sick and needing someone doesn’t make you a burden, Grandpa.”

His hand squeezed mine back. “No, I suppose you’re right about that.” He smiled down at me. “You must’ve gotten all that wisdom from me, huh?” His other hand tapped over mine. “Good genes in this family, I tell you what.” He removed his hands from me and pulled me to his side with one arm. His finger touched the tip of my nose, which I wrinkled up to him in response. “You have to remember that about yourself, too. You aren’t a burden. Don’t let things hold you back because youthinkyou’re a burden or that you owe someone something for who you are. The right people will appreciate you.”

I snorted. “Are you about to tell me how dumb I was to keep August around as a friend?” I nudged my elbow into him as the silence stretched. “You and Grandma need to stop calling Jasmine for gossip. Just ask me.” I laughed at the same time he did.

“Alright, that’s fair.” His chin settled along the crown of my head. “I heard you chucked his guitar, but that wasn’t from Jasmine. His mother called us, saying we needed to buy him a new one.”

My ribs seized with laughter. “Are you serious?”

“He will never be a man, that slimy little weasel. Went crying to his mama, and he’s a full-grown adult.” He released me and started walking around to the front of the car. “See what staying at home too long can do to you?”

“Yeah, yeah.” I waved my hand at him. “I don’t think that’s his problem, but I get it. I’ll get right on it, don’t worry.”

“Good.” He clucked his tongue. “Your grandmother was worried that Andrews boy was going to start sleeping over, and we really don’t want to hear that…ya know—”

“Okay!” I shouted, blushing furiously. “Okay. I get it.”

“These walls are real thin, Rose. I mean he seems respectable, but boys that age haveurges—”

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