“So, we’re hoping for her room.”
“Does it make me an asshole if I hope it’s her room?”
She snickers. “Let’s hope she won early and quit while she was ahead.”
“It’s hot when you’re logical.”
Aspen snorts. “You think everything I do is hot.”
“Pretty much.”
When we pass the living room and I don’t spot her, I breathe a sigh of relief.
“It’s your lucky day,” Aspen says.
“It’s still early.”
Anything could change, but I don’t say that out loud. Honestly, I could use the reminder myself.
“It’s okay if this doesn’t go the way we want it to. We’ll take it one thing at a time,” she reminds me.
“Room thirty-six,” I say pointing down the hall. “It’s near the end.”
If I was going to take her from her home, the least I could do was make sure she had the best view in the building.
Aspen takes the lead and I could kiss her for it. I’ve never been this nervous to visit before. Not even when I know she’s not lucid.
Halfway down the hall, my chest starts doing that thing again. My breathing is tight, shallow, like my lungs forgot how to work properly. I slow without meaning to, tugging on Aspen’s arms because our hands are still joined.
“Do you need a minute?”
I take stock, the panic is there but it hasn’t taken control. Maybe if I keep moving I can evade it.
“No,” I say, taking the lead when we start again.
When we reach the end of the hallway, the door is cracked, sunlight spilling out onto the floor in a pale stripe. That’s a good sign. I stop just short of it, my hand still wrapped around Aspen’s. My pulse knocks against my ribs hard enough I’m surprised she can’t hear it.
Because once I push that door?—
Aspen meets my eyes.
Not nervous. Not pitying.
One look gives me all the confidence I need.
Whatever version of my grandma is in there, Aspen’s about to meet her.
I exhale once, slow and controlled.
Then I reach for the door.
CHAPTER
FORTY
ASPEN
The hinge barely makes a sound when Emmett pushes the door.
