Page 44 of Out of the Blue

“Oh, right. I love skiing. Want to check out the slopes?”

“Never been.”

“I could teach you. Get you on the bunny slopes.” I make rabbit ears above my head.

She giggles. “Nah. I’d rather stay around a fire and sip hot cocoa, making s’mores.”

“If we’re doing it together, I’d be all for that.”

She places her lips on mine, far too short of a period for my liking. Instead of reclaiming her spot, she holds out the tour schedule. “Tomorrow, we’re going to be in New Hampshire. Next concert is in Manchester.” She rises and leans her round ass against the desk, facing me.

“My aunt lives in New Hampshire.”

“Oh?” Her eyes light up.

Why did I tell her this? When she taps my chest, I explain, “Auntie Gloria moved away when I was twelve, and we only exchange Christmas cards. I’ve only seen her in person for Grandmother’s and Mom’s funerals. We’re not close.”

“You haven’t talked much about your mother’s family. Do you have any other aunts and uncles?”

“Nope. Just her. She’s my mother’s twin.”

“Oh.” She drops her head on my shoulder, tracing a heart over my real one. “Tell me about your grandparents.” Her voice is low.

Happy memories rush through my system. “My grandmother was a cooking fiend. She could make any meal better than you’d get in a restaurant. And my grandfather loved eating her food. They always had ready smiles. Grandfather used to make quarters appear from behind my ear as a kid.” Laughter bubbles. “I once asked him if the inflation fairy could change the quarter to half dollars.”

She leans away from my body, smiling. “What was his answer?”

“He said the fairy who brought him all the quarters told him she didn’t have access to the other buckets of coins. So, quarters was it.”

“Sounds like a very smart man.”

“He was. I loved him so much.”

She nudges me and I continue. “He worked as a New York City bus driver and had to deal with irate customers all the time. Yet, he always was so patient with me.”

She strokes my cheek.

“After a shift one day, he got out of his bus and was walking home when he had a heart attack. He was dead before he hit the ground.”

Cordy pulls me to her. “I’m so sorry.”

“This happened years ago. I was only ten.” I kiss her forehead.

She sits back on the desk, her arms looped around my neck. “How did your grandmother take it?”

“Bad. She still cooked, but her joy wasn’t in it anymore. Her baked goods still were delicious, but they didn’t sparkle like when my grandfather was alive, you know?”

“That stinks.”

“Yeah. My mom and her sister tried to make things better, and Grandmother continued to be my babysitter. No matter how hard we tried—I even had The Light Rail come over and play concerts for her—she kept withdrawing as the years went by. She died when I was sixteen.”

“Wow.” Cordy gives me another squeeze and leans into my body. “Which left your mom and her sister.”

My chin taps the top of her head. “By then, Auntie Gloria was gone. When I was a little kid, she and Mom used to get into it. They were like oil and water. Once she married Uncle Casey and moved to New Hampshire, she got busy with having kids and raising her own family. She didn’t get back to New Jersey, and we didn’t go up to visit her.”

She’s quiet for a long while, stroking her hand up and down my back. “But your mom. She was your champion.”

I remember her rooting for The Light Rail to win a local Battle of the Bands. Her driving us to gigs outside of Jersey City. The dinners she’d cook up for all of us when something bad happened, like we didn’t get a booking.

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