Page 9 of Happy Harbor
Her cell phone buzzed on the kitchen counter, and she forced herself to get up.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Bug.”
The sound of her beloved nana soothed her soul. Josie didn’t feel peace very often, but when she talked to her grandmother, she exhaled.
“Hey, Nana. I wasn’t expecting to hear from you today. How are you?” She’d been a little worried about her nana for a while now. Her voice sounded smaller, more frail. Sometimes it was shaky. She was still spry and feisty, but getting older.
“I’m still above ground today, so I suppose I’m good as can be.” She giggled at her own joke. For as long as Josie could remember, her nana’s response to “How are you?” was always “I’m still above ground.” She thought of herself as a regular comedian.
“Is everything okay?” Josie couldn’t take much more bad news.
“Everything’s fine, my dear. Just wanted to hear your voice is all. You sound a little frazzled.”
“Raising a teenage daughter. You know how it is.”
She chuckled. “I surely do, but don’t you worry. Things always have a way of working out.”
“I wish I could see you right now.” Josie longed to put her head on her nana’s shoulder. It always made her feel better, and it had been so long.
“Is something else going on?”
Josie wanted to be honest and tell her she’d been fired and dumped, but it would only worry her, and she didn’t want to do that. Nana had spent her life worried about others, and Josie wasn’t going to add to it.
“No, just typical teenager stuff. Kendra’s been a little defiant lately, and she hates school.”
“Sounds very familiar.”
Josie smiled slightly. “I was a handful, wasn’t I?”
“You were, honey. But you know what? It was all worth it to see the woman you’ve become.”
Her grandmother gave her way too much credit. “I miss you.”
“I miss you too. I hope you can come visit soon.”
Josie’s eyebrows furrowed. She hadn’t been back to Happy Harbor in years. The memories of her tumultuous childhood were just too triggering for her. Using her busy work schedule as an excuse, she’d instead met up with her nana in Charleston to treat her to dinner and shopping. And they did video chats at least a few times a month.
“I will, Nana. I promise. I’ll find a way.” She really should visit, even though it was painful. For Nana, she needed to do it, to make a way.
“Darlin’, you’re a good mother. One of the best I’ve seen. Don’t let those teenage hormones get you down. Stay the course. Love Kendra, and do what’s best for her, okay?”
“I will.”
“I’m proud of you, Bug. Always have been, always will be. You’re the best thing I’ve ever done. You know that?”
“Why are you being so sentimental today, Nana?”
She laughed. “Old people tend to do that, honey. We sit and think a lot. Life goes by so dang fast. I guess you just realize how much of it was plain old nonsense.”
“You’re right about that. A lot of it is nonsense.”
“Well, I’m getting a little tired, and I still need to water my rose bushes. I love you, Bug.”
“I love you too.”
“Call me soon, okay?”
