Page 61 of Made for You
“So?” Her eyes practically sparkled, and her bright lips curved into an expectant smile.
“Context?” I asked, feeling like I had a hangover from the night of tossing and turning I’d had once I’d finally surrendered to sleep.
She gave me a sour look. “Your date with the ex-special-ops lumberjack next door? Whatelsewould I be asking about?”
A laugh tumbled out of me. “I guess nothing.” I smiled at her, a burst of love warming my insides. “It was really nice.”
Her brows dropped low, disappointment etched into the bracket lines betraying her years of smiles at the sides of her mouth. “Nice?”
I ducked my face into my coffee mug, refusing to rise to her bait.
She waited another beat before acquiescing. “Fine. I know you came home at averyreasonable hour, and though I’m not surprised, since Bruce is a gentleman if there ever was one, there was part of me that was hoping…” She sighed out a wistful sound.
“That he’d keep me out too late and you’d have the closest thing to a great-grandchild on the way in approximately nine months?”
She shrugged a shoulder as she set a notebook and her keys onto the counter. “A girl can dream, can’t she?”
The sip of coffee I’d taken nearly came out of my mouth, but I swallowed hard to force it down. “You’re wild, Gram.”
“I am who I am.” She came to sit next to me on the couch. “And I need to talk with you about something.”
The way her voice gentled and lowered a touch sent me back to my early twenties. Back to the heart-to-hearts we had every now and then.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, somehow sensing this wasn’t about the birds and the bees.
She smiled, though it didn’t look sneaky or happy. It was something almost sad, yet not quite. “I should’ve told you this sooner, but I wasn’t sure how. I wanted you more settled. And now, you are. You have a job, you’re making friends, and you have Bruce. I—”
I sat straighter. Rosie very rarely needed a moment to gather her thoughts. She didn’t stop herself or second-guess her words. She was a woman who knew her own mind more than anyone I’d ever met.
“Just say it. Please.”
She nodded. “I got word a few days ago that a spot opened up at Silverton Springs.”
I blinked. “The old folks’ home?”
She frowned. “Retirement community.”
My thoughts swarmed, but nothing stuck. I wasn’t clicking with this—couldn’t parse it out. “Okay. Um, so… you’re moving there?”
She took my hands. “I’ve always planned to eventually, but the stroke… I’m too isolated here. Bruce and Kiley are wonderful neighbors, but they’ve got busy lives. I can’t expect anyone to look after me. If I hadn’t had my phone, or…” She huffed, frustrated by something.
“I’m here, Gram. And I have no plans to leave. I came here with the intention of being here with and for you. I want to do that.” Didn’t she understand? Caring for her wouldn’t be a burden.
“I believe you, Nikki. This choice has nothing to do with my faith in you—I know that if I asked you to, you’d make it your full-time job to see after me. But what I don’t want is for it to become that. I want you to live your life, and it is my greatest joy that you’re finding that you want to do that here in my little town.”
I grinned through the ache in my chest. “Yourtown, huh?”
She winked. “I know I’m healthy, and I know my recovery was nothing short of miraculous considering what happened. I’d planned on waiting until I was older, but I’ve realized I don’t want it to be something I do out of desperation. A few friends have gone ahead and moved in, and they’re really happy.” Her eyes moistened. “Can you forgive me?”
Seeing her tear up made me do the same. “Forgive you? What could I possibly have to forgive you for?”
“Because I lured you here to care for me and now I’m abandoning you. But I hope it doesn’t feel that way. I understand if you’re angry with me.” Her lovely face looked borderline desolate.
“No, Gram.No.I’m surprised. But I’ve been feeling pretty useless on the caring-for-you front, and I’m just… readjusting. But you get to live your life how you want, too, you know? I want you to be happy, and if being with your friends will do that, then that’s amazing. We’ll be close by, and I’ll see you all the time.”
She reeled me into a hug, and I clung to her for a moment, inhaling a scent so familiar and soothing, I didn’t want to leave.
That is, until she said, “I want you to have the house and—”
