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She’s lost weight to the point where she looks skeletal. Her skin is also a strange color, distinctly yellow, a sign of jaundice I suppose.
“Tess has been extremely busy helping her father get settled into the mayor’s office.” Dani gives me a wink.
I lean forward, tempted to touch the hand of the woman who means so much to the people I love dearly. “I’m sorry I haven’t been around in a while. How are you feeling?”
“Terrible. But I’ll be dead soon so I suppose I should enjoy it.”
Cecile has a long track record of shocking with her blunt language but Dani’s lower lip trembles. She’ll be devastated when Cecile is gone.
So will Micah.
Growing up in a house full of secrets and tragedies with a mother who never had much patience for him, Micah’s grandmother was the one constant in his life.
“You must be glad that Micah is returning early.”
She sniffs. “I told him he should not change his plans just to sit by my bedside on death watch, but the boy is stubborn.”
Her words sound harsh, but they are also tender. She loves Micah a great deal.
Dani is paying careful attention to my reaction now that we’re discussing Micah. She knows most of the story, but not all of it. And Dani would never push.
“I remember your mother,” Cecile says, startling me. “A red headed spitfire if ever there was one. She could be very entertaining. I’m sure you don’t remember her.”
“No, I don’t remember her.” But I wish I did.
Cecile rearranges her position, suddenly agitated. “Tess, pay attention. There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you and this is probably the last chance I’m going to get.”
I look at Dani. She fusses with the blanket covering Cecile’s shrunken body. Total seems to be dozing off in her arms.
“Of course. I’m listening.”
Cecile removes her sunglasses. I’ve seen her ruined eyes before, reduced to slits inside a cage of badly scarred skin. It’s still jarring to be confronted with them up close. Yet I would never do her the insult of turning away.
Cecile can’t see me but she stares just the same. “Mostly I would say that a terrible parent is better than no parent but there are exceptions.”
That sounds like a hell of an indictment.
She hasn’t named my father yet I’m sure that’s exactly who she means. I don’t know why she would say such a thing right now, however Cecile is facing the end of her life and her mind could be wandering in any number of directions as she looks back.
She jabs a thin finger in the air. “Don’t be afraid.”
I have no clue what she’s referring to. “I won’t.”
Her dry lips bend into a smirk, like she’s charmed that I’m humoring her. “Don’t be afraid to lose, Tessie Belle. You can’t ever win if you’re not willing to take a chance that you might lose.”
I’m so shocked by the depth of her insight that I can think of nothing to say. The fact that her words penetrate so deeply, and sting when they do, is a sign of their accuracy.
Most people don’t have the ability to say things so plainly.
She does.
And Micah. He does too.
He didn’t inherit this quality from his mother. Matilda is as superficial as they come. Cecile’s grandson gets his honesty from her.
The sudden commotion downstairs perks up Total’s ears and he issues a piercing bark of excitement. Charlotte is home from school and she wastes no time thundering up the stairs.
“I thought school would never end.” She takes a flying leap onto the bed and rolls to her back, holding her arm over her eyes in a dramatic pose while Total lavishes sloppy dog kisses all over her face.
