Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87152 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87152 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
It doesn’t help when Grandma Lois opens the door, looking sad and hesitant. “I’m afraid she’s not having a very good week, boys.” When she says that, there’s so much sadness in her voice. It makes my chest go tight enough that it’s hard to breathe.
“What’s wrong with her? What happened?” I recognize what I hear in my brother’s voice. I’ve heard it enough times before to know he is going to blow soon. The pressure is building like a volcano about to erupt.
All it takes is a gentle smile from her to ease a little bit of it. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make it sound like—she’s all right,” she explains, and we both let out a deep breath. “But it’s been a challenging week, anyway. She’s been very tired. And worn out. This is the way it goes sometimes. I’m sure she didn’t want to upset you boys and make you worry about her.”
Sure, because ignoring us is going to make everything better. That’s definitely the way to make sure we don’t hound the shit out of her. “Can we see her? We won’t be long, I promise.” I even make an X over my chest with one finger. “Scout’s honor.”
“Were you ever really a scout?” She looks at Preston, clearly skeptical.
He shrugs. “Let’s just say we were both scouts. And we both mean it. We won’t stay long. We won’t bother her. We just want her to know we’re here for her, that’s all.”
“She is lucky to have friends like you.” When she steps aside, I could kiss her. “I’m sure she could use a reminder that she has friends on her side.”
That’s a nice thought. I have to wonder if she’ll agree. Now that we know she was deliberately ignoring and avoiding us, I’m a little unsure about what we’re going to find when we see her.
When we come to a stop at her bedroom door, I raise a fist to knock, but she’s too quick for me. “You might as well come in,” she calls out before I get the chance.
Easing the door open, I ask, “How did you know we were out here?”
“Because I have ears that work.” She doesn’t look at us, focused on her laptop. Instead of her wig, she’s wearing a knit cap, and she hasn’t bothered getting changed out of her pajamas. Is she too tired to worry about it, or is she depressed?
“We wanted to see if you’re all right. That’s all,” Preston says.
“Congratulations. Now you’ve seen for yourself.” Her fingers move over the keyboard, not skipping a beat. How she can type while she’s talking to us, I don’t know. I guess it helps that she’s not paying much attention. Because as far as she’s concerned, we’re not worth the slightest pause in her day, for some reason. What did we do this time?
“Could you at least take a break for a minute? For fuck’s sake,” I mutter. I don’t care if Grandma hears us. Maybe she needs to know how impossible her granddaughter can be. “What did we do that was so bad? I thought after we sat together on Tuesday, we got past all that shit.”
“All we’re trying to do is show you we care,” Preston murmurs.
“Could you please not?” she asks with a sigh before swinging around to look up at us. “Congratulations. You both discovered you have a conscience around the same time you discovered there are people in the world who have it harder than you do. Could you maybe take a break from patting yourselves on the back now? It’s getting old.”
Jesus Christ. “Maybe you should decide whether you like us or hate us, since this back-and-forth stuff is getting old.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” She touches her chest, and I notice she’s not wearing her necklace. Maybe she doesn’t wear it when she’s at home, kind of like her wig. “Are my feelings getting old for you? Maybe the way you suddenly show up at my home and act like I need to get on my knees and thank you is getting old, too. Did you ever think of that?” She’s keeping her voice down so her grandma won’t hear, obviously, but she might as well be screaming. She’s that intense.
“You know what?” Preston nudges me with his elbow and scoffs. “Fuck this. We came over here to try and cheer her up, and this is what we get.”
“Poor you,” she mutters nastily.
Preston nudges me again when I’m too stunned to react. “Let’s go. I didn’t come out here to get treated like the shit on the bottom of somebody’s shoe.”
I have to wave him off because, dammit, no fucking way. “That’s not what we wanted at all. I guess you’re not used to having people give a shit about you, but we do, and we wanted to make sure you were okay since we didn’t hear anything from you since Tuesday. That’s it.”