Chapter 16
Sixteen
G ita tiptoed into her bedroom, forgetting about her hip for just a moment, and softly closed the door behind her.
She was pretty sure that Grace was sound asleep. She had retired to her room more than an hour ago, claiming that she had a good time, but she was exhausted.
Gita didn’t doubt it, but something was off, and she couldn’t wait to talk to Don to try to figure out what it was.
Pulling her phone out from her pocket where she stashed it, she listened quietly for a moment before she sank down in the chair beside her bed and dialed Don’s number.
She had been sleeping in the chair up until the last few days, when the physical therapist had cleared her to get in and out of bed if she wanted to.
She pulled up his contact info, hit the call button, and waited impatiently for him to answer, tapping her finger on the chair and trying not to give in to the inclination to get up and pace the room.
Don answered on the fourth ring in a small, quiet voice. “Hello?”
“Is he asleep?” Gita asked immediately.
“I think so. That’s why I told you it was okay.”
“I think Grace is asleep too, but I’m going to keep my voice down just in case. ”
“Yeah. It seems like that’s wise.”
“Did you feel like something was off when they started talking about how they were going to have a relationship and they wanted us to chaperone them?”
“It sounded very much like what we had said.”
“Do you think they were mimicking us? Did they figure us out?”
“I’m not sure. But why else would they have suggested that we take a kayak trip on the lake? And I think it was Trevor who suggested we sit back down at the table and play games. So, it’s not really tracking.”
“I agree. Something just feels off. It was very much like what we did, but different, but… They’re not…
genuine.” She wasn’t sure if that was the exact word she meant.
They did seem to really like each other.
She wanted to talk to Don about that before this happened.
That she thought that their plan was going well.
“I thought everything was going really great until tonight,” Don said, sounding a little disgusted. Still talking softly.
“I agree. I was really thrilled with how things are going. In fact, I almost wanted to talk to you about a victory lap. Because they seemed like they were really getting together.”
“But now they’re saying they’re together, and we don’t believe it. Maybe we’re the ones who are being weird.”
Gita thought about that for a moment. He could be right. Maybe she had gotten so into her role of fake relationship and pretending to have something going on with Don that when they were successful in what they were trying to achieve, she didn’t like it, and it didn’t feel right.
“I suppose that could have happened. I’ll think about that a little bit. I felt like there was something off, but I didn’t consider that it might be me.”
“Yeah. Same. I didn’t think about it until we’re sitting here and trying to figure out what it was. Obviously I’m not used to my son and your daughter talking to each other. I never thought they would get back together.”
“Me either. So I guess it’s kind of shocking that they are, and it’s only natural that I would think that there’s something weird about that. ”
“Exactly. That’s what I was thinking too.”
They were quiet for a moment, and then Gita said, “You really think that’s it?”
“I’m not sure. It felt…a little contrived, but maybe it’s because I was feeling guilty too. I do feel somewhat guilty.”
“Because we’re not being honest?”
“Yeah. We’re deceiving people, and it doesn’t feel right.”
“I’ve been shoving that thought aside, because we’re helping people, Grace and Trevor, and they deserve it. But… You’re right. It doesn’t feel good to know I’m not being honest.”
“Maybe we should confess exactly what’s going on when we’re on the kayak trip. We’ll have lots of time together to talk about it, and we can get far enough away from them that they won’t be able to hear us.”
“Just be careful, because you remember how well sound travels over the water, and no matter how far we are, if the atmosphere is right, they’re going to be able to hear us plain as day.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Maybe between now and then, we can suggest taking a picnic along, so we’ll be sure to have time alone. Plenty of it where we can compare notes and come clean.”
“Is it terrible that I don’t really want to?” Gita asked softly. She didn’t really want to examine that at all, and she held her breath before Don began to speak.
“I don’t want to either. Mostly because…I want for you and I to have a real relationship.”
“Really?” Gita said, even softer. Her heart skipped a beat and then started to beat happily in her chest.
“Yeah. Really.” There was silence on the line as Gita tried to figure out what to say, but Don spoke first. “Gita Baby?”
Her heart thrilled as he said the nickname that only he called her. “Yes?”
“I think I’m too old to know all the right words.
I don’t know how the kids say this anymore, but back when we were in high school, I would be asking you to go with me right now.
But that’s not all I want. I… I feel like I don’t know how long either one of us have left, but I’d like to spend all my time with you. ”
Was he asking her to marry him? She wasn’t quite sure about that. But she understood the idea of going with someone. That’s what they did in high school. That was so long ago, and surely the kids didn’t call it that anymore.
“So you’re asking me to go with you?”
“I am, but I’m not playing. I… I’m going to want to marry you if you say yes to this, I’m just not sure that we ought not to wait a little bit longer. So we don’t shock the entire town and overwhelm the Blueberry Beach hospital with heart attacks.”
She laughed a little, even though heart attacks were not funny. It was the idea that two old geezers like Don and she could shock an entire town. But he was right, they would if they got married that suddenly. They were both known as reasonable, rational adults.
“Then my answer is yes. Yes, I’ll go with you. Let’s be official.”
“All right. That sounds good, Gita Baby.”
“And we can still go on the kayaking trip, and we can admit to what we’ve done, but then we can tell them that we decided that instead of having a fake relationship, we want a real one.”
“Perfect.”