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“Glad to see him getting his sass back,” Elmer said when he joined Max in the kitchen.
“Me, too. I never thought I’d be so happy to see him be sassy.”
“Accidents have a way of reminding you of what’s important.”
“Indeed. Have you been to see Chase today?”
“Just came from there. He’s very unhappy about the food situation, which is all liquid for the time being.”
“Poor kid.”
“Your mom is making some of the tomato soup he loves, and Cameron has the smoothie machine going full steam.”
“That’s got to be a heck of a challenge.”
“It is, but he’ll be back to fighting form in a few weeks, and then you got to get them right back on that mountain, so they won’t be afraid of it.”
“Ugh, I don’t know about that.”
“They love it the way you and Will do. You can’t let them lose that. Get them back on the horse, my friend.”
“We’ll see.” Max glanced around his grandfather to make sure Caden was occupied by the TV and the homework. “His mom is coming today.”
“I might’ve heard something about that. How you feeling about it?”
“Oddly fine.”
Elmer nodded. “Because she doesn’t mean anything to you anymore, except as the person who gave you the greatest gift of your life.”
“That she did, and I’ll always be thankful to her for him.”
“If you can stay in that mindset around her, it’ll all be fine.”
“That’s the goal. Thanks for coming by, Gramps.” Max hugged the older man. “We look forward to seeing you every day.”
“Glad to see our boy bouncing back quickly. I’m too old for a scare like the one he and his cousin gave us.”
“Me, too,” Max said, smiling.
“Damned kids.”
“Right?”
“Caden, I’ll see you tomorrow. Be good for your dad.”
“I always am.”
“Love you, buddy.”
“Love you, too.”
Max waved Elmer off from the front door and then went to see how Caden was making out with the homework.
“I think he might be my favorite person in the whole wide world,” Caden said. “After you, of course.”
“It’s okay if he’s first. He’s first on a lot of people’s lists of favorites.”
Max was thankful his grandfather had lived long enough that Caden would remember him, not that he wanted to think about a time when Elmer wasn’t right in the middle of everything in their lives.
