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"I know. I'm sorry," he said apologetically. "My grandfather should be home soon. He doesn't like to leave my grandmother alone for long. Just to warn you, she drifts in and out of reality. Sometimes she makes sense, and sometimes she doesn't. She might not even know who I am."
She saw the pain in his eyes and felt a wave of compassion. She hadn't lost anyone to Alzheimer's, but she did know what it felt like to lose family.
"We were very close when I was growing up," he added. "She was always there when we came home from school. There were so many of us kids around that my mom couldn't give everyone the attention they needed, so Grandma filled in the gaps. She had a great sense of humor. She was always smiling, laughing, and she never let the little stuff bother her. I remember one time when she was babysitting, she let us put up a tent in the attic. We got our sleeping bags and pretended to have a campout. I think she even made s'mores." He smiled at the memory.
"She sounds wonderful."
"But she doesn't smile like she used to, and she's often confused or scared. When I saw her the other day, she acted like she was afraid of me." He got up and paced restlessly around the room. "I want to help her, but I don't know what to do."
Ria was beginning to realize that Drew couldn't stand by when something was broken and not try to fix it. "It doesn't sound like there's anything anyone can do," she commented. She stood up and walked across the room. Since they weren't going anywhere soon, she might as well learn a little more about the Callaways.
On the mantel were several framed photographs. "Who are all these people?" she asked.
"Callaways," Drew said, coming over to join her. He pointed to an old black and white photo. "Those are my grandparents, and their six kids. My father, Jack, is right there. He's the second oldest in the family." He paused and pointed to the next photo, which was in color and appeared to have been taken by a lake. "That was the last family reunion , two years ago up in Lake Tahoe."
"I don't see you anywhere."
"I was still deployed. I don't think they missed me. There were at least seventy-five people there."
"Huge family."
"Everyone in my dad's generation had a bunch of kids, and some of their kids had kids, so it's a crowd. We rent four houses on the lake now. Actually, one of them belongs to my grandfather, so that's the home base, and we try to snap up anything else that's close by."
As she looked at the family pictures, she was struck by the feeling that she'd come up really short in the draw for family. "It looks like fun," she said, unable to keep the wistful note out of her voice.
Drew gave her a speculative look. "You sound sad."
"Do I? I'm just tired."
"And maybe a little lonely," he suggested.
"I'm not lonely. I have Megan."
"Who else do you have?"
She was saved from having to answer by the arrival of Drew's grandmother.
Eleanor was a petite and pretty, white-haired blonde with beautiful light blue eyes. She wore gray slacks and a pink sweater, both of which hung loosely on her thin frame. Doris helped her to the couch, then left them alone.
"Hello, Grandma," Drew said. He sat down on the couch next to her. "How are you today?"
"I'm fine, Drew. Who's your friend?"
Drew seemed to visibly relax when she called him by name. "This is Ria," he said.
She inwardly sighed at the use of her old name, but there was no one in this living room who cared.
"Ria, that's a pretty name for a pretty woman," Eleanor said with a friendly smile. "Are you Drew's girlfriend?"
"No, we're just friends," she said quickly, taking a seat in the chair next to the couch.
Eleanor laughed. "Oh, I can't believe that's true."
"I'm working on changing her mind," Drew said.
"I suspect so," Eleanor said. "What brings you here tonight, honey?"
"I have to talk to Grandfather. He went to the store, I guess."
"He loves to go to the store. It gives him a reason to get out of the house. Sometimes I make him as crazy as I am," she said.
Eleanor's disarming candor was very appealing, Ria thought. Maybe she wasn't always lucid, but when she was, she seemed to at least know that something was wrong.
