Page 35 of This Love
Gram pulled on the front door. It tended to stick, so I rushed up behind her to help.
“Thank you, Tucker.” We headed out into the sunshine to her old Buick. “I think this will be the day Ava turns things around.”
I wasn’t sure why she felt that today would be any different. But I had to hold on to hope. Life had already taken from me more than I could bear. I would not lose Ava, not now, not ever.
When we arrived at the old diner, Gram took my arm as we stepped onto the curb. “Don’t fret, Tucker. Show her your good side. She’ll come around.”
“It’s been so slow going this time. She only trusts Harry.”
“Thank God for Harry, though. She didn’t run.”
“True. At least she didn’t run.”
I opened the diner’s door to a rush of refrigerated air. Harry liked his restaurant cold. I waited for Gram to go inside, then drew in a deep breath to steel myself.
Seeing Ava was hard to face. Where she’d once lit up when I entered a room, now she put up an emotional wall. I could see it every time, those bricks dropping into place.
Big Harry sat at the bar at the back of the diner. He lifted his hand in greeting. “Ava’s got the booths on the right side today.”
I nodded and headed for an empty one, my hand on Gram’s arm.
Ava was writing an order for a gray-haired couple. There were only a few tables taken. That was why we’d chosen this time to come. It would be easier to talk to her than when the restaurant was busy.
Gram sat on one side of the booth, and I took the other. Ava scribbled her notes, and I waited for her to look up and notice us. I always watched for any shift in her feelings toward me.
Watching her easy conversation with the older couple made my chest pang. No matter how Ava came out of a memory-erasing seizure, there were things about her that never changed.
The way she spun her hair on her finger. How she bent forward when she was trying to listen, her head tilted slightly to the left.
“I’ll get this put in,” Ava said to the other table, straightening as she turned away. She spotted us at our booth, and there it was. Slam. The wall came down.
“I’ll be right back,” she said in our direction, then headed to the kitchen.
Harry watched her go, then said to us, “Rough lunch hour. She’s got her tail over her back.”
Great. It was even harder to connect with her when she was already out of sorts.
“Stay the course, Tucker,” Gram said. “It’s worth it.”
She was right. And I never doubted that. I just wished life were easier for us.
Ava emerged from the kitchen, looking resigned to waiting on us.
“Hello, dear,” Gram said. “It’s lovely to see you.”
“And you,” Ava said. “Hello, Tucker.”
My throat constricted. Her hair was twisted up in pinwheels like it had been years ago. She must have seen a picture of herself with them and liked it.
“I like your ‘do.”
Her head tilted. “My do?”
“Hairdo. Sorry. I forget idioms don’t automatically come back.”
She frowned. I’d reminded her of her condition. This never went well. Stupid mistake. I knew better.
“What can I get you today?” she asked.
