Page 26 of Eleanor & Grey

When we were about halfway down the trail, I nodded to my left. “Okay, now we have to cross through the trees.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “You’re not trying to take me out into the woods to, like, kill me, right?”

I laughed. “Don’t be silly, Grey. If I wanted to kill you, I would’ve done it ages ago.”

“Well, that’s comforting.”

We went through the trees, and the branches hit us repeatedly. It took about three minutes of getting scraped up from rough foliage before we approached the clearing, and when we did, Greyson smiled ear to ear.

“Wow,” he said, staring out at the body of water. Compared to the actual lake, it was tiny, but seeing it isolated made it look massive, especially when there were only two people around it. There were some large logs, which was where Mom and I always sat and talked. Wildflowers were fully in bloom, and the grass was the greenest it would be all year.

“I know, right?”

I led him over to a log, and we sat down beside each other.

For a while, we were just quiet, looking at the natural beauty that surrounded us. Greyson didn’t say much, but his grin spoke loud enough for me to know he didn’t hate it.

Then, a dragonfly flew right past us.

“I see why you love it here. It’s peaceful,” Greyson said.

“Yeah, plus being near water helps my mom with inspiration for her artwork.”

He raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Your mom’s an artist?”

“Yeah. She’s been doing it all her life for fun. She’s amazing.”

“And that’s like, her job?”

“Well, she’s a nanny by day, artist by night. She could do it full-time if she wanted to, but she’s really in love with being a nanny.”

“That’s pretty neat.”

I frowned. “Yeah, I guess.”

“What is it?”

“It’s just that she recently stopped nannying for her last family. And she hasn’t been painting as much as normal,” I told him, shifting around on my seat. “I think she’s getting too drained from chemotherapy to do it.”

Greyson’s smile slowly faded. “I’m sorry, Ellie.”

“Yeah, me too.” The less she painted, the more her illness became real in my mind. But, I tried my best to shake off those thoughts. If I slipped down that rabbit hole of sadness, I wouldn’t come back from it. “What about your parents? What do they do?” I asked, changing the subject.

He shrugged. “My dad’s the CEO of a whiskey company, and my mom’s always traveling for fun. They aren’t around a lot. I haven’t seen my mom in a few weeks, and Dad just comes home sometimes and sleeps. Most of the time he stays at the apartment he has in Chicago, though, instead of driving home.”

“So, you’re just alone most of the time?”

“Yup. I mean, before I had Grandpa, but since he passed away…it’s just me.”

“Do you miss them?” I asked. “Do you miss your parents being around?”

“Doesn’t matter. Missing them isn’t going to make them stay. I just always promise myself I’ll be different, you know? I want to be different when I have kids someday. I would never abandon them. I’m supposed to take over the whiskey company when I’m older, but I’d do it different than Dad. I’d make time for my family. I’d show up. My grandpa was able to do both, be a parent and run a business. He showed up all the time.”

“I think people underestimate how important just showing up is.”

“It’s everything,” he agreed.

“So, you’re taking over your dad’s company?”

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