9 Years Ago
A SIGH ECHOED out from the kitchen. Sammie had been heading down the hallway toward her room, her bed, and some much needed sleep. But at that sound, she decided to veer off into the kitchen, socked feet padding lightly on the linoleum floor.
Greta sat at their small table, mountains of paperwork spread before her, reading glasses perched on her nose. She didn’t look up when Sammie entered, absorbed fully in the work before her.
Sleep could wait a little longer.
Sammie filled the kettle with water, setting it to boil as she searched for her granny’s favorite peppermint tea in the cabinet. She frowned, not seeing it in the usual place. Atticus had a terrible habit of never putting things back where they belonged.
“Night, Granny!” Speak of the devil. Sammie turned to see her brother poking his head into the kitchen. His eyes met her own, a sleepy mirror.
“Where’s the tea?”
He thought for several long seconds, long enough that Sammie could feel a sigh building in her chest. Then he pointed. “Top shelf of the lazy Susan.”
Sammie huffed as she opened said cabinet, and there it was, the peppermint tea she’d been searching for. She looked back over her shoulder. “Want some?”
Atticus shook his head, blonde locks flopping over his forehead.
He’d opted to keep lightening his own hair, even after Sammie had gone back to her own dark brown.
Weirdly enough, Sammie thought it suited him.
“I’m wiped, just gonna go to bed.” The high school volleyball season was coming to a close, and his team had a good shot at making regionals.
Which meant every spare moment was spent practicing, working out, practicing some more, all while working overtime to keep his grades up.
Sammie figured she should cut him some slack, even if he was just as forgetful in the off-season.
“Night, sweetheart.” Greta looked as though she’d just realized both of her grandchildren were in the same room as her. “Your game is tomorrow, right?”
“That’s right.” Atticus offered a soft grin as Sammie poured hot water into two mugs.
“I’m proud of you.” Greta’s gentle smile matched his, the family resemblance shining through more than usual when all of them had bags under their eyes.
The girl’s team had wrapped up a less than stellar season the week before, and Sammie still felt as though she hadn’t readjusted to having free time.
“Thanks, Granny.” With that, Atticus slipped away from the doorway, heading off toward his room. Sammie sat one of the warm mugs down in front of Greta, taking the seat across from her.
Greta blinked, surprised by the offering. She put down the papers in her hand, letting her readers hang around her neck as she took the mug, breathing in the steam.
“Are you staying up much later?” Sammie sipped carefully from her own mug. It had been happening more and more lately, these late nights spent in the dim light of the kitchen, her granny pouring over paperwork, shifting around schedules, working on new menus.
“I hope not,” Greta mumbled. “Thank you, Sammie, this is exactly what I needed.” Something in Sammie’s chest shifted, tightening.
Her granny looked tired. Not just because the clock on the wall behind her was creeping closer and closer to midnight.
Sammie couldn’t help but take note of the deeper lines at the corners of Greta’s eyes, the limpness of her hair, more gray than blonde now.
Those bags under her eyes, darker, more permanent than the ones Sammie had seen on her own face in the mirror.
“Can I help with anything?” Sammie hated the feeling of helplessness washing over her. Greta had never before seemed so weighed down by… life.
“No, sweetheart.” Another slow, long sip of her tea, a soft smile gracing her lips. “You’ve got school in the morning.”
“And you’ve got work.”
“Touché.” Greta chuckled. “You take such good care of me. Your brother, too. He’d be much more of a mess without you to keep his head on straight.
” A pause, one that felt full of something Sammie couldn’t quite place.
Something bigger than she knew what to do with.
“It warms my heart to know you’ll always have each other.
I hope that one day you’ll be able to lean on him as much as he leans on you. ”
Sammie didn’t really see it that way. Atticus might be just as much a mess as any other teenage boy, but he was always there when she needed him. More-so even than Greta, sometimes.
“And we’ve got you.” Sammie didn’t like the wistful, almost sad look that was deepening the lines on her granny’s face.
“You do. But you’ll have each other long after I’m gone.”
Sammie froze.
“Granny.” The word sounded distant in her own ears, as though she were deep underwater, far from the light and life of the world. “Is something wrong?”
Greta watched her, one long heartbeat after another, before shaking her head. “Nothing’s wrong. I’ve just got some big decisions to make, and it’s got me thinking about the future.”
Sammie’s heart pounded a little less. Still, her curiosity begged to be sated. “What big decisions?”
Greta looked down at the papers spread between them. “I’m not as young as I used to be, back when keeping up with it all felt so much easier.” Yet another weighted pause. “I’m going to sell the restaurant, Sammie.”
Those last words came out thick, too heavy. Too sad.
Sammie leaned back in her seat, heart in her throat, choking off any response.
Sell the restaurant? She felt blindsided.
They’d always had the restaurant. Greta had opened it with their papaw a decade before Sammie and Atticus had even been part of the picture.
She loved that place, and knew that her granny loved it far more.
“Why?” A single question, a single word. It was all she could manage to squeak out.
Greta sniffed, and Sammie didn’t miss the wetness pooling in her eyes.
“It’s so much, Sammie. Running a business.
Managing people, making sure they’re taken care of.
Pair it with a house that’s starting to fall apart.
” She waved a hand at their dimly lit surroundings.
“It’s just so much. Too much. These old bones can’t take as much as they used to. ”
“You’re not old.” Sammie frowned petulantly, earning the chuckle she’d hoped for.
“Thank you for that.” Greta sighed, leaning back.
It was all wrong, seeing her granny like this. So worn thin. So sad. Sammie wanted to fix it, even if there wasn’t anything she could truly do. Especially if Greta already had her mind made up, if selling the business really was the right decision.
“Movie night this weekend?” They hadn’t had a movie night in ages.
What had once been a weekly occurrence had somehow faded to a thing they rarely did anymore.
Work shifts, volleyball practices, softball in the spring, nights spent out with friends.
They’d all been busier than ever, and their weekly tradition had ended up low on the priority list. And sure, Sammie did have a date lined up that would have to be postponed.
One that Greta didn’t know about, seeing as how Sammie still hadn’t worked up the courage to tell her that she was dating a girl.
Well, dating was maybe too strong of a word.
After several charged moments at Atticus’ last game, Sammie had found herself being pulled into a dark hall by Vivi Perry, star of the debate club.
They’d hooked up twice more since then. And Vivi was far from the first girl Sammie had kept secret from her granny.
At this point, she was basically a professional at keeping secrets when it came to her bisexuality.
Sammie would just have to cancel on Vivi.
She wasn’t even sure she wanted to keep up whatever it was the two of them had going on anyway.
Sure, they had fun together, but a spark was missing that Sammie had been hoping for since…
well, it was just missing. And Vivi was a friend.
Sammie thought maybe she would rather just keep her friend.
“You mean both of my grandchildren will be free at the same time?” Greta sighed dramatically, placing a hand over her heart. “Have I switched dimensions? Is this a prank?”
“Ha ha.” Sammie stuck her tongue out. “I’ll make sure Attie can find time for us normies in his bursting schedule.”
“You’re so good, Sammie.”
The wistfulness in her granny’s voice had a sudden lump swelling in Sammie’s throat.
It was all suddenly so much. Nearly too much.
The restaurant, the lines creasing Greta’s face, the secret Sammie didn’t know if she would ever be able to give voice to.
The way she couldn’t remember the last time the three of them had sat down for a full meal together.
“I love you, Granny.” The words spilled out of her unbidden. “Attie, too.”
“I know you do.” Greta rose from the table, coming around to Sammie’s side and planting a kiss on the top of her head. “I’ll always love you, sweetheart. Come on, let’s get to bed.”
Sammie hid her face in her mug, sipping the last of her tea as she blinked back the sudden tears pricking her eyes.