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My grandmother might not know what day it was, but she was still the most pleasant person in the household.
She smiled at me, patting my hand while turning toward my mother. “Do you mind?”
My mother scowled, making the lines on her face even harsher. “Really? I’m getting kicked out of the kitchen?”
“There are things Billie and I need to discuss that require privacy.”
Gram had never made it a secret that I was her favorite, even over her own daughter. She’d said many times she thanked the powers that be that my mother had me, so Gram having her hadn’t been a complete waste of resources. I was never quite sure how to reply to that, so I’d usually just nod.
My mother shook her head, took her mug, and grabbed her pack of cigarettes. “I’ll be outside if anyone needs me.”
“Good. We’re alone.” Gram smiled as if oblivious to her daughter’s glare. She might be. After you saw something enough times, it was easy to become blind to it.
“What’s going on, Gram? I don’t have too much time before I have to leave.”
Two wrinkled, frail hands wrapped around mine. “I have some things I need to tell you before you go that are very important. When you get to the outpost, tell them you have a reservation or they’ll toss you in the river.”
“Gram, don’t worry, the firm I have an appointment with won’t throw me in a river.” I smiled, patting her hands, hating how thin and fragile they felt. She was really losing it now, worse than usual. How much longer would we have before we couldn’t have any kind of conversation?
“The firm? Of course they won’t do that, but that’s not where you’re going. You aren’t supposed to be an accountant. I keep telling you that, but you don’t believe me. I understand why, but you need to listen to me now.”
Those frail, bony hands were gripping mine with more strength than I’d thought she possessed.
“Gram, being an accountant is a good job.”
“It’s not what you’re meant for. You’re like me. You’respecial.” She grinned as her eyes lit up. “You know, if I hadn’t loved your grandpa, I never would’ve quit. But it was all worth it for him, and now you.”
Quit? Had she had a job shecouldquit? I’d never before heard her speak of any kind of career.
“Gram, I thought you were a housewife?”
“That’s what I chose to be after I quit, but I couldn’t tell anyone about my life before Grandpa. It would’ve caused issues.” The last sentence was a mere whisper, as if she were afraid my mother was listening in and she’d find out her secrets.
My phone buzzed on the table, my boyfriend’s name flashing on the screen.
“Is that Johnny?” Gram asked, forgetting about all else as she stared at the phone like she wanted to smash it to pieces.
“Gram, Johnny is a good person.” I slipped my phone into my pocket, hoping she’d forget about him and let it go.
“What’s he want?” Her tone dripped disdain. From the second he walked through our door, complete with a bouquet of daisies for her, she’d despised him on the spot for no apparent reason.
“He’s wishing me luck.”
She hmphed.
“Gram, I don’t know why you dislike him so much. He’s a good man.” It wasn’t actually that surprising. She hated almost everyone, and sometimes only seemed to tolerate my mother. Grandpa and I were the only two people she’d ever seemed to really love, and even I was no match for him. The sun had risen and set with that man until the day he died.
“He’s a bad apple. Not to mention a man like that is going to curl into a ball and cry when the shit hits the fan. Do you really want to be with someone like that? Just like your father. Bad blood.” She made a wiping motion with her hands, as if rubbing off the dirt he’d left behind.
“He’s nothing like my father. And I don’t need him to be some sort of protector. We aren’t living in medieval times.”
“You never know when you might need someone capable of fighting beside you.He’snot it.” She spoke of him like he was her mortal enemy instead of a nice guy that I’d met in my first year of accounting. He’d been graduating as I was just starting.
“You don’t need to worry. There will be no fighting in my future.”
“Sure,” she said, nodding at me as if I were the one needing placating. “He doesn’t matter anyway, and that’s not what I needed to tell you.” She took me in a hug. “You need to know I won’t see you for a while after today. I’ll be gone before you get back. I’ll see what I can do after I get settled, and I’ll get in touch with you.”
“Gram, where are you going? Why do you say these things?” I glanced at the clock. Eight minutes before I had to leave for an interview and she had to do this now?
