Page 41 of Save the Last Dance
Nina shook her head, too overwhelmed to say much.
“Your mom.” Gram edged her walker away from Nina toward the kitchen cabinets, the awkward movement rousing Nina from her reverie to help.
“Seriously?” Funny she’d just been thinking about her parents. She kept an eye on Gram’s feet to make sure each shuffling step landed securely.
“Well, sure.” Gram pointed to the cabinet where she kept the tea, so Nina opened it and then reached sideways to heat the kettle on the stove. “She’s sorry for letting you down, but sends her love and wants forgiveness. She’s off running around the world with no real worry about her responsibilities back home because all her life, someone else has cleaned up her messes.”
Nina let that sink in while Gram lifted one tea tin after another, searching for the flavor she wanted today.
“You’re right,” she acknowledged finally, amazed to realize that Gram had seen through Olivia in five seconds flat. “I can’t believe I went into business with a clone of my mother.” Maybe, in some weird way, she’d hoped Olivia wouldn’t let her down all the times her mom had.
“I wouldn’t go that far.” Gram unearthed a faded tin of Lemon Zinger from the back of the cabinet and brought it down to the counter.
“It makes total sense, though. I left here because I wasrestless and needed a change of scenery after Vince’s death.” She hadn’t been thinking about Mack or Jenny or Vince’s family. She’d been focused on burying her own hurt. “And because I was trying to forget the past, I hung out with friends who were equally…self-involved.”
Her shoulders slumped.
“Oh, honey, don’t be so hard on yourself. You were a driving force behind the success of that business in spite of the fact you partnered with a flighty nut.” Gram’s phone rang but she ignored it. “Don’t mistake your natural vivacious personality for some kind of defect. You are enthusiastic and optimistic and we wouldn’t want you any other way.”
She appreciated her grandmother letting her off the hook so easily, but Nina wasn’t quite as sure.
“You want me to grab that?” Nina searched around the kitchen for Gram’s phone while it chimed again.
“No. I’ll call him back.”
“Him?”
“Just a hunch.” She winked. “How about you fix that tea while I take a seat and you can tell me all about your next move? If you really think Miss Olivia will return that money, are you going to try and save that business you worked so hard to build?”
A week ago she would have answered in a blink, ready to start whipping up some cupcakes. Not anymore. She wasn’t sure what she would do professionally, but she was still certain she wanted to come home.
Nina watched her grandmother edge across the kitchen with the walker, angling the device through a narrow spot between an antique secretary and the corner of the table. It was a constant battle for Nina to restrain herself from helping too much, since that only riled Gram up and Ninaunderstood her need for independence. Plus, Gram’s new physical therapist had showed Nina the kinds of tasks that Gram should be able to manage on her own. But there was an increasingly long list of things she couldn’t manage, and if she was going to keep any part of her independence, she needed Nina here.
“No.” She felt a new peace settle over her as she confided her plans to her grandmother. “I’m staying right here.”
“Really, honey?” Gram looked surprised for a second before she grinned. “I’m so glad to hear it. You deserve some closure with Mack. He’s such a fine man.”
Mack? Nina’s sense of peace evaporated. When had she said anything about Mack, let alone closure? Their wounds went too deep to slap a bandage on them and be done.
Too late, Nina realized that now that she was staying, she needed to find a way to keep a surface peace with Mack and protect her heart at the same time.
Pulling into aparking spot outside the fairgrounds, Ally was grateful when her cell phone rang. A phone call meant she could delay her meeting with Rachel Wagoner for at least another minute or two. She’d been dreading seeing her ever since Mr. Cummings set up the time for the girls to merge their ideas for the straw maze.
Crossing her fingers that it was Rachel calling to cancel, Ally pawed through her backpack on the passenger seat to find her phone. She was shocked to see the number that came up on caller ID.
Pressing the button to connect the call as fast as possible,she hit the speaker button, too.
“Gram?” She held her breath waiting for the answer.
“Good morning, Alessandra.” Her grandmother’s voice came through strong and clear on the other end.
Gram must be having a good day, even if she did think it was morning at two o’clock in the afternoon. Ally toyed with the mini pink flashlight attached to her key ring while she watched a flatbed truck pull into the parking lot with a load of hay bales.
“Hi, Gram. It’s great to hear from you.” She wouldn’t bother complaining about how much she’d missed staying overnight at her house or how much she wished Gram had picked up the phone that day she’d scratched herself into the hospital. If she kept things light and happy, Gram might be more likely to invite her for a sleepover again. Ally imagined them wrapped up together in a quilt at midnight while they watched an Audrey Hepburn marathon. Her grandmother always said she’d longed to be like those Hepburn heroines, ethereal and victorious all at once.
“I hear I missed a call from you the day you were taken to the hospital.” Gram cut to the chase and caught Ally totally off guard. She dropped the pink flashlight and stuffed the car keys in her bag.
“Did Dad tell you that?” She hated appearing weak to her grandmother, whom she admired. More than that, she hated to give Gram things to worry about. “It was no big deal.”
