Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 48680 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 243(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48680 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 243(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
I lean across the table to hug her, and she hugs me back so tight I nearly lose my breath. Tears shine at the corners of my eyes. I think about the bills piling up at home, all the petty worries of life. I’ll find a way to pay them. I’ll find a way to get her the treatment she needs, no matter what it takes. Because I can’t lose this woman from my life. She’s too amazing.
She’s all I have left.
“Now, all this talking has worn me out.” Gram tries to keep up a strong front, but she’s coughing a little, and her cheeks have gone pale. Shit. I reach over to ring for the nurse, and help her stand and grasp the walker she needs now, just to help her get around.
“Let’s go back to your room,” I suggest, and then the nurse arrives to help, and Gram is too tired to protest, which I know means she really does need some rest. I’ll drop her off and head out while she takes her nap.
But when we reach her room, there’s a surprise awaiting us. A burst of sunflowers on the table beside her bed, interspersed with white lilies that fill the room with a beautiful fragrance. Where someone found sunflowers at this time of year, I’ll never know. Even more mystifying, is why Gram tears up at the sight.
“Oh . . .” she murmurs.
The nurse pauses beside her, checking her pulse, worried. “You okay, Mrs. Taylor?” she asks.
But Gram just bobs her head, beaming. “Yes, yes, I’m fine. Just . . . Those are my favorite.”
“Sunflowers?” I tilt my head.
“They had them at my retirement ceremony.” She hobbles to the bedside, collapses against it a little hard for my liking. But she remains animated, as she reaches out to touch the petals on the sunflower. “They were your grandfather’s usual present for me. He grew them alongside our house, and your mother measured herself against them every summer, to see how tall she was getting. Someone at work remembered, and that . . . You remember that party they threw me, no?”
I was only five or six at the time, but I do vaguely remember all the press attention it got. The retirement party of the first female commercial airline pilot. Newspapers all across the country covered it. Now that I think about it, I do vaguely remember the photos of her in her flight uniform, surrounded by huge bouquets of sunflowers, beaming and waving at the crowd.
“Who brought these?” I ask the nurse, but she only shrugs as she helps Gram into the bed.
“Anonymous sender. They arrived at the front desk while you were in the rec room.”
I dig through the petals, but I don’t see a card. “Maybe it’s your secret admirer,” I tell Gram with a smirk, and she laughs at that one. But it’s a tired laugh. The nurse shoots me a significant glance, and I know by now what that means. Time to go.
“I’ll stop by in a couple days, Gram.” I reach down to squeeze her fingers gently. “I’ve got work at the diner, then I’ll be by.”
“Bring your homework next time,” she orders me, in between yawns. “I don’t want you slacking on your studies on my account.”
I smile down at her. “Never.” But she’s already drifting off to sleep, her grip going loose in my hand. I gently set her hand down on the bed, and let myself out of the room, leaving the nurse to run a couple vitals behind me.
As I’m closing the door to her room, someone touches my shoulder. I gasp, jumping, and whip around, only to have my heart nearly leap into my throat.
Pierce. Here.
For a moment, all I can do is stare deep into his pale blue eyes, my expression a mask of shock and confusion, I’m sure. Then he smiles, and I shake my head, forcing my brain to function again.
“What are you doing here?” No, that’s not the right question, my brain chides me. “How did you even find me? Are you stalking me?” I scowl.
He leans against the wall, completely unperturbed by my annoyance. “There were only so many female pilots your grandmother’s age, Bonnie. It didn’t take long to find the one based in northern California, whose granddaughter still lived in the region. And it took even less time to find out that she was still alive, though ailing and residing in a full-time care facility.”
I storm past him up the hallway. “You had no right to barge into my life.” A thought occurs to me, and my mouth drops open. “You sent those flowers too, didn’t you? You looked up her retirement party articles and saw them.”
“You aren’t the only one who can use google, you know.”
I whip around to glare at him. “What, did you put a tracker on my phone or something too?” My voice is rising, getting the attention of the nurses at the end of the hall, but I don’t care.