Page 91 of The Closed Off Captain

“Yes, that’s because Gunner offered to come with today. For some reason, he wanted to see you,” I say with a smirk.

“Oh, pfff. He just wanted to spend time with you.”

I shake my head but don’t argue with her. The more I fight her on this, the more obnoxious she’ll get about it. “I made soup for today. Are you hungry?” I head into her tiny kitchen, so I can heat it back up.

“What kind is it?” she calls out. “It’s not that nasty broccoli one, right?”

I groan. “One time. One time I accidentally burned the soup on the bottom of the pan, and I never live it down.”

“It was terrible. It had that burned taste to it,” I hear her tell Gunner.

“And you’ve never eaten my broccoli and cheddar soup again. Yes, I know.” I pull out two bowls and two spoons and open the Italian loaf of bread I bought. I fill two bowls and carry them over, being careful not to spill. Gunner stands when I come close and reaches out to take a bowl from me. “Actually, can you grab that tv table?”

He brings over an ancient tv table she’s had forever and puts it in front of her chair. I put a bowl of soup down and hand the other one to Gunner. “Thanks.”

“I’ve got bread and crackers.” I bring those over as well.

“What are you going to eat?” Gunner asks quietly.

“I have a simplified version that I can eat.” I take out the container of soup I made for me and walk back over. Gunner moves his legs, so I can sit next to him.

“I can’t believe Thanksgiving is this week,” I say after a bite of soup.

“It’s going to be a lousy Thanksgiving,” Grandma May mumbles in between bites.

"I know; I’m sorry.” We have a home game on Wednesday night but have to leave on Thursday for our away game on Friday night. So, it’s going to be a dud for Thanksgiving this year; I told Grandma May that as soon as the schedule came out for the season. “We’ll just have to make up for it with an extra special Christmas.”

“Bah-humbug,” she mumbles. I laugh, and Gunner smirks beside me.

I take a few more bites of soup and then set my bowl aside. “Want to see some pictures from last night?” I connect my phone to her tv, so she can see clearly. I show her the collection of pictures I saved that I think she’ll enjoy. I don’t show her the one of Gunner and me, hoping she won’t notice.

“Why aren’t there any of the two of you?”

“We didn’t take any together.” I shut down the connection between my phone and the screen.

“Why not?”

“Because, Grandma May, we’re no longer pretending to be together, remember?”

“Well, that’s just stupid. Whose bright idea was that?”

I try not to get exasperated. “Not taking any pictures together?”

“No, not staying together.”

“That was Chloe’s idea,” Gunner contributes to the conversation.

“Webothdecided that, remember?” I say pointedly.

He meets my gaze head-on. “You decided that, and I went along with it.”

“I feel like we’re splitting hairs here.” Turning back to Grandma May, I say, “Like I said earlier, we no longer need to pretend to be engaged. The issue has been handled. Coftmanhere went against what I advised and talked to the crazy woman. While I don’t condone his actions, I have to admit, it seems to be working. So.” I face Gunner. “Good job, Coftman.” Turning back to Grandma May, I add, “It is finished.”

“Wrong holiday,” she mumbles to me.

I stand up and toss the remote control to Gunner. “Do you mind putting on a hockey game? Grandma May, I’ve got to go check on something. I’ll be right back.” I kiss her forehead and turn to Gunner. “You good for a few?” I mouth. At his nod, I head into the hallway and make my way down to the main office.

A few minutes later, I make my way back to Grandma May’s room. I don’t go in right away, because I’m still trying to figure out what to do with the information I now know.

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