AllFreeNovel
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He does. We collect Rae from her spot at the nurse’s station, where a cup of handmade flower pens has her attention now that the nurse from before is gone.
Then we seek out Room 418.
I don’t miss the deep breath Landon takes as we walk through the open door, but when he spots his grandma around the corner, he greets her with genuine happiness in his voice. “Hey, Lolly! I’m back! Can we come in?”
The voice that replies is tired but warm. “Oh, hello, dear. Who is‘we’?”
With my hands on her shoulders, I gently steer Rae far enough into the room that we can be seen.
Landon holds a hand out to us with a smile on his face. “I brought friends with me. This is Liv—” he touches my arm for the smallest moment, “—and her niece Rae. Guys, this is my grandma. I call her Lolly.”
I wave while Rae says, “Hi, Ms. Lolly.”
“We’re pleased to meet you,” I add.
Lolly smiles at us from her bed. Even though she looks like she’s seen better days (and like she’s on a decent amount of pain medication), I have to smile, too. I can see bits of Landon in her—in the slight dimples in her cheeks and the oval shape of her face. And I can sense the kind nature he’s spoken of; I can feel that, truly, her spirit has always been a beautiful one regardless of what’s gone on in her mind.
“My goodness,” she says as she looks between Rae and me. “What pretty girls!”
I can’t help a blush. Rae giggles and says, “Thank you! I think you’re a pretty lady!”
The rest of us laugh at that.
“Well, aren’t you a doll?” Lolly asks.
“She is,” I confirm. I give Rae’s shoulders a gentle squeeze. “Want to show her what you brought her, babe?”
She nods and shuffles up to Lolly’s bed, a tad shy again. “I, um…” she carefully lays the card and coaster on the blue knit blanket, “…I made you some stuff.”
Lolly’s smile grows as she reaches for the card. “Oh my! Let’s see what this says!” She holds it up with a slightly shaky hand, then squints at it. “Well, now….”
“Is it blurry?” Landon asks as he walks over. He glances around her bed area. “I don’t see your reading glasses. Do you know where they are?”
Instead of bothering with that, Lolly just passes the card to him.
“Oh, want me to read it? Okay. My pleasure!” He holds up the card where she can see it. “The front says,‘To Landon’s grandma.’There’s some glitter on here—pink and gold, it looks like—and some heart stickers in lots of different colors. Very pretty!”
Rae titters happily.
He opens the card. “More stickers on the inside, and some hand-drawn flowers. Nice! And it says,‘You are probably awesome, because Landon is awesome. I don’t like my grandma because she’s not nice, but Annie says you are very, very special to Landon, so I….’” He trails off and reads silently to himself.
And just like that, his emotions shift.
I can see it: what was light and playful is morphing into something intense. Something full of memories and adoration…
…and deep, deep sadness.
A sudden ache cracks through my chest.
He draws a measured breath, then finishes through an audibly tighter throat,“‘…so I bet you are the very best grandma in the world. Thank you for being the best grandma to my friend Landon. Love, Rae.’” He swallows hard.
I do, too, the backs of my eyes stinging.
I read that card almost as many times as Rae did, which was a lot. Each time, I loved it and thought it was an awesome coincidence that she wrote those things, seeing as how she has no idea what Lolly has done for Landon—I’ve never saidwhyshe’s so special to him.
But as great as I thought the card was, it never made me want to cry. It’s the look on Landon’s face that’s doing it now. The words are even more significant to him than I thought they’d be, and it’s tugging hard at my heartstrings.
“What a sweet card!” I hear Lolly saying. “Thank you!”
