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There was my opening. “Lucille? How come Nora isn’t going with you? That sounds right up her alley, too.”
“She had other plans.”
“What plans?” As soon as the words tumbled from my mouth, I knew I’d made a mistake. Gram would zip her lips tighter than a clam when she caught on that I was poking around for information and not just making conversation.
“That’s a question for Nora, not me.”
I raked a hand through my hair. “It’s hard to ask someone a question when they don’t return your calls.”
“She’s probably busy.”
“Doing what?”
“Beck…”
“Fine,” I grumbled. “Have a good time with your naked man.”
“Oh, I will. I definitely will.”
After I hung up, my brother walked into my office. I hadn’t yet filled him in on everything that had gone down in Utah, about Nora’s health.
“So get this…” As usual, he parked himself in my guest chair, reclining into it like he was at home on a La-Z-Boy. “This woman called me at one in the morning a few nights ago, bawling me out.”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing. It was a wrong number. But we wound up talking for four hours.”
I shook my head. “There’s something wrong with you.”
“What? She cursed at me in Italian. It was sexy as hell.” My brother squinted. His eyes roamed my face. “Did you lose weight? Your eyes look kind of sunken into your head.”
“Thanks.”
“No, really. You don’t look so hot.” He thumbed over his shoulder toward the door. “Are you sick? Because I don’t want to catch it and miss my date with my crank caller tomorrow night.”
I sighed. “No, I’m not the one sick.”
Jake frowned. “Gram isn’t doing well? I talked to her last night, and she sounded great.”
“No, she’s fine.”
“I’m lost. Then who’s sick?”
I really needed someone to talk to other than my grandmother. Jake was younger and not the most mature person in the world, but I had no idea how to navigate things with Nora, and I could use an outsider’s opinion. I motioned to my office door. “Shut that, will you?”
“You mean with me on the other side of it?”
That made me smile. “No, believe it or not, I actually mean with you onthisside.”
“Oh shit.” He stood. “Big bro’s got a secret to share with me. Don’t think that’s happened since you swore me to secrecy after I got bit by the neighbor’s dog—with the secret being that I was now half dog and half human.”
I shook my head. “You pissed holding up one leg for a month and started sniffing shit. You’re so gullible.”
Jake shut the door and returned to his seat. This time he sat tall, maybe even gave me his full attention. “What’s up?” he said. “What’s going on?”
There wasn’t a good place to start, so I jumped right in. “Nora didn’t meet Gram because they live in the same building. They met at a Living at the End of Your Life meeting. It’s a support group. They’re both members.”
His brows knitted, and a few seconds later his eyes flared wide. “Nora’s dying?”
