Page 135 of Wonderstruck

And there he was, in his rocking chair with apaper and a pipe, completely in his element.

“Hey Grandpa!” Dais called as she lugged herbags up the porch steps.

“Hey, little one!” Grandpa chuckled as he tossedthe paper to the floor and ached up from his chair, bouncing over to Daisy’s open arms. “You’re getting taller, what did I tell you.”

“Or are you getting shorter?” I called from the topof the steps, Rory nestled in behind me.

Grandpa eyed me, not containing his laughter.“Confident words for a man who is five foot seven.” Daisy hunched over laughing, and I’m sure I heard Rory stifle a laugh too.

I nodded at him, my smirk high and my eyes turningto slits. “Oh look, your eyes are going,andyour spine. I’ve been six-two since I was sixteen and you know it.”

“Yeah yeah, whatever, Finneas. Get in here.” Hisbig arms covered my back, reminding me that although he was pushing eighty, Grandpa still had some strength in him, and there was no doubt that it was from all those years dominating the ice.

I felt him chuckle into my chest as his head wasover my shoulder. “Oh, hello there.”

Before I knew it he was pulling away from me. Ispun my head around just in time to watch him bring Rory in for a hug.

Her hair was tucked behind her ears as she pulled away. “It’s lovely to meet you. Thank you so much for letting me stay, Sir—”

“It’s Jack to you,” Grandpa smiled down at her. “And it’s lovely to meet you too… miss…”

“Oh, sorry,” My throat cleared as I wedged myself back beside Rory. “Grandpa this is my girlfriend, Aurora Greene.”

God, I will never get tired of saying that.

My girlfriend.

I’d never seen Grandpa’s face light up soquickly. “Girlfriend? My, we’ve never had one of those here before, have we Dais?” He chuckled as we all look over to Daisy, and to say that she was gobsmacked would be doing the expression on her face a disserive. Her jaw was practically hitting the porch, her hands paused mid-way through pulling apart her curls.

And before she could delay the entire day with questions, Grandpa reached his hands out to Rory, taking them in his hold. “How are you liking Montana, Aurora? First time out here?”

Quick as anything, Rory shook her head. “No, actually.” She swallowed, half her mouth lifting. “I grew up in Honeywood, my old house is just five minutes back down that way.”

Grandpa’s glacier-green eyes widened as theyfollow where she pointed. “You’re kidding! Small world.”

She nodded. “I don’t think I can believe myself,actually.”

Grandpa smiled back at her, before his facescrunched. “Huh, five minutes away you said?”

“Yep, it was the old cottage just off CottonDrive, with the lake.”

Grandpa’s eyes lit up. “And your last name isGreene?” She nodded again. “That makes you… oh, you’re Arnold and Aurelia’s girl, ain't ya?”

It was like the world stopped spinning as Daisy and I looked to Rory. I swore the snow stopped falling, and the porch swing stopped swaying in the breeze. Anything to quieten the moment.

I kept my eyes trained on Rory, watching herswallow the lump in her throat, blinking once, then twice, before a smile, soft as the snow that had started falling again, lit up the porch. “I am.” Her bashful little smile grew. “How did you know them?”

Grandpa smiled, craning his neck slightly and his eyes lifting to the sky. “Ha, that’s a story that we should have over some cocoa, let's get you kids inside.”

Daisy bound over to Rory, slipping her armaround her shoulders. “C’mon, I’ll show you where you’re staying.” All I got was a quick smile before Daisy tugged her into the house.

I heaved their bags over my shoulder, mineslung awkwardly on top, as I watched Grandpa bend down to grab his paper. The cold air scratched at my face, but it wasn’t the December chill that sent a shiver crawling down my back.

The question had been clawing at me from themoment I stepped off the plane, needling my chest until it ached. It burned at the back of my throat now, so close to spilling out that I felt my jaw tighten, trying to trap it.

Was he here?

The words never made it past my lips.

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