Page 71 of The Closed Off Captain

“Game night?” I ask, and he nods.

We head inside and make our way to Grandma’s room. I knock and then open the door. “Grandma May, I'm coming in, and Big C is with me.”

I hear muttering from her room. “Let me check on her.” He nods and veers off to the small living room.

“Grandma May, I’m coming in.” I knock on the door and open it. I take one look at her, and my shoulders drop. “What happened?” I ask as I rush to where she’s sitting on the bed.

“I dropped my glasses. That's what happened,” she says, annoyed. I look down and see her glasses on the floor, just beyond her reach. I stoop down and grab them and hand them back to her. “There we go; now I can see my beautiful granddaughter. How was your romantic weekend getaway with Big C?”

I don’t let her distract me. “What happened?” I ask, pointedly looking at her face that’s bruised all over.

“I was tired of all the attention you were getting from the bruises on your face and wanted to match you.”

“Grandma May.”

“Oh, don’t get your underwear in a knot. I fell, but I’m fine. Now where’s that handsome man of yours?”

My stomach falls at her words. She fell again. She’s going to need better care; she’s going to have to move to the other side. Susan told me as much, but I was really hoping it wouldn’t happen. The other side is at least double the cost of being on this side. I don’t have that kind of money, and Grandma May certainly doesn’t. Any money she once had was used up to pay Grandpa Jim’s hospice and funeral bills after he passed away. I’m barely making the payments as it is; I don’t how I’m going to be able to afford the care she needs.

Her hand reaches out and grasps mine. “We’ll figure it out together.” I look into her eyes, eyes that I love so much.

I put my head on her shoulder. “Okay.” Because really, what other answer was there?

“Now, let’s go see your handsome beau.”

I scrunch my nose up. “Nobody calls them that anymore, Grandma May.”

“I do, and I can do what I want because I’m old.”

“You’re old,” I finish at the same time she does. She always says that and gets away with murder because of it. I brace her walker as she stands up. I resist the urge to do any more than that because she hates getting help, especially if she doesn’t need it. “Lead the way,” I tell her, opening the door for her.

“Big C,” she calls out. “What’d you bring me?’

“Grandma May,” I hiss as I follow her out.

I’m standing to the side of Grandma May, so I catch his expression when he sees her. He frowns and scans her face before shifting his face into a neutral expression. I think I might just have fallen for him a little more in that moment. “Hi, Grandma May,” he says, bending low and kissing her on the cheek. He's so tender with her, and it means the world to me. When he stands back up, his eyes meet mine for a moment. I can’t find it in myself to look away, nor can I find it in me to hide whatever is on my face for him to see plainly. “I did bring you something,” he says, shocking me speechless. He pulls something out of his pocket that’s wrapped in tissue paper and hands it to her once she’s settled in her chair.

“See,” she says to me, and I can’t stop my smile. She opens it, and I wonder what in the world he found for her and when. Her face is radiant when she sees whatever it is. “Look at that,” she says, handing it to me.

I look down at the Green Thunder pin and smile. “It’s perfect.”

“Help me put it on.”

I bend over her and pin it to her shirt, being careful not to poke her. “How does it look Big C?” she asks.

“Beautiful, just like you,” he says with a smile, and I swear my heat melts into a puddle of goo.

She turns to me and raises her eyebrows. “You’d better watch yourself; you’ve got yourself some stiff competition.”

I can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of me. I meet Gunner’s eyes, and he has that soft expression on his face.Thank you,I mouth to him when Grandma May’s not looking. “What are you hungry for?” I ask as I head over to her kitchen.

“Nothing over there,” she says waving me off.

“Want me to order something?” I ask.

“Nah, I’m good.”

I frown. “Have you eaten yet today?”

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