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"You can still come out on it," Drew said.
"Those days are long gone."
"Grandma seems pretty good tonight. She's making sense. At least most of the time."
"Don't worry about what she says, Drew. Random thoughts pop into her head, and she gets things mixed up."
"She told me about some time where Dad got beat up. She implied that it was some form of blackmail. That someone wanted you to do something." As he finished his statement, his grandfather's jaw tightened and anger filled his eyes.
"She has Alzheimer's, Drew. I can't unravel every story she tells you. And I'm damn tired of trying. You and your brothers and sisters need to stop trying to make sense of things that don't make sense."
"Okay, sorry," he said, seeing the weariness in his grandfather's eyes. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"No." He pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "I just want to savor the good moments now, let everything else go. Because one day there won't be any more good moments."
Drew hated to think about that day.
"I'll put these checks in the bank in the morning. But here are the ownership papers and the maintenance log," Patrick said, pushing a binder across the table. "I kept track of everything. A few of my friends have used the boat in the past few months and said everything was in good shape, but you should get it checked out from top to bottom. I probably should have dry-docked the boat, but I kept thinking that I'd get Ellie back out there. She always loved to sail."
"It's not too late. Any time you want to go out, you can."
"I couldn't take the risk that she'd get confused or scared out there and put herself in danger."
"Do you really think that would happen?"
"Anything is possible. Sometimes she gets combative. It's just fear, and I know that, but it's hard to see the woman I love jerking away from me as if I was going to hit her."
"Is there any treatment?"
"The drugs she's on now seem to be working better, but I don't know. Anyway, you don't need to worry about it." Patrick stood up. "We better get back in there. Lord only knows what Ellie has told your friend."
* * *
"What did you and my grandmother talk about?" Drew asked, as he drove Ria back to her apartment.
Ria smiled. "She said you're a charmer like your grandfather. Personally, I had a little trouble seeing your grandfather's charm behind his gruff exterior, but I guess I'll take her word for it."
"These days, I'm not sure you should take her word for anything."
"She seemed focused most of the time, except for those few minutes when she was talking about your father getting beat up. Do you know what that was about?"
"I have no idea. I asked Grandpa, and he just blew me off. My dad has never mentioned anything, and he's big on sharing stories of his life. I can't imagine why he'd leave something like that out."
"Maybe there's a reason he didn't tell you. Your grandmother made it sound like it was some sort of warning or form of retribution."
"She might have made the whole thing up, Ria." His hands tightened on the wheel.
"Or not. Every family has secrets."
"Are we talking about your family or mine?"
"Just saying you may not know everything there is to know about your father or your grandfather."
"I know both of them pretty well," Drew said defensively. But this wasn't the first time that his grandmother had made vague references to some secret event in the past. Emma and Aiden had both come to him with similar stories.
As he turned down Ria's street, he saw a parking spot near her building, so he grabbed it.
"You don't have to park," she said quickly.
"It's almost seven. I was hoping I could bum some food off of you." He gave her a pleading smile.
"I doubt I have much in the fridge."
"I'll have whatever you're having."
"That's a risky statement. I could be having peanut butter and jelly."
"I love peanut butter and jelly," he said, as they got out of the car.
As they walked down the block, he caught Ria taking several glances over her shoulder, and before she inserted her key into the front door of the building, she took another look around.
