Chapter 9
TJ
Iget to the senior living neighborhood that Gram and Pa live in in less than fifteen minutes.
I didn’t run into any cops on my way, which is good, because I was driving well over the speed limit.
I tried to call my grandpa, but he didn’t pick up.
I debated calling an ambulance, but I have no information other than the text message, and I could get to them faster than the EMTs anyway.
I slam on the brakes, skidding my truck into a parking stall outside their place. I leave the keys in the ignition and sprint toward the door, bursting inside while my heart threatens to burst out of my chest. “Gram? Pa? Where are you?”
There’s a grunting sound and then, “Back here, Son!”
The unit is tiny, a simple living room on the front that joins an area where a small dining table seats four. Beyond that is the kitchen, and off to the back is a hallway leading to the bathroom and the only bedroom.
I sprint in that direction, bracing for the worst—my grandma unconscious or in terrible pain with a broken hip or a snapped femur. Something gruesome and awful.
I pause in the doorway to their bedroom as hysterical laughter reaches my ear. I blink a couple times at the sight before me.
My grandfather is on his knees, reaching over the edge of the far side of the bed. My grandma is nowhere to be seen, but then a leg flies up and tries to hook itself onto the mattress.
“You need to try, honey,” Pa scolds with a huff.
More laughter from my grandma, who I now realize is wedged between the bed and the wall. “I am trying, but I’m stuck!”
My grandpa yanks, and my grandma hoots from her position on the floor.
“I don’t want to pull your arm out of its socket.” Pa looks over his shoulder, and I get my first look at his face. It’s beet red, and he’s wearing a wry smile. He turns back to my grandma. “TJ is here. He’ll be able to help.”
“Oh dear, this is embarrassing.” My grandma bursts into giggles.
“You okay, Gram?” I ask, slowly walking to the foot of the bed and peering around the side. Sure enough, my grandma is on her back, her hips jammed between the boxspring and the wall. She’s got one foot on the bed and the other pressed against the floor, trying to give herself some leverage.
“I’m as good as a person can be in this situation.” She starts giggling again. “Look, Martin. I’m being rescued by Zorro himself.”
I shake my head and take off the mask I realize I’m still wearing.
I toss it onto the bed. My mind flits to Cinderella and the mask she wore all night.
Now that I know my grandparents aren’t having any kind of legitimate emergency, my heart thrums with regret.
I have no clue who she is. Never will. But there’s no use dwelling on that now.
It’s for the best anyway. That’s what I tell myself as I fake a scowl at my grandma.
“Very funny, Gram. Do you want a hand up and out of there?”
“That would be good, dear. I’ve really gotten myself into a pickle.”
“Do I even want to know how this happened?” I scoot between the bed and the wall and get my arms under my grandma’s back so I can lift her upright.
“Nothing saucy was happening, if that’s what you mean,” Pa says. Does he sound disappointed? I’m going to try not to think about that.
“That’s not to say nothing saucy never happens, though,” Gram adds when I get her back up and onto the bed. She brushes her flannel pajamas.
I hold up my hands and take a step away from the bed. “I really don’t need any details.”
My grandma giggles again, and my grandpa looks proud.
He shoots her a wink, and the same sensation of longing that burned like a white-hot brand being pressed into my stomach at the sight of Rose and Anton is back.
I don’t know what’s gotten into me. When Tess died, I shut down the idea of having a love like that.
So why am I longing for a partner right now?
It’s the Cinderella effect. It has to be. Which is stupid. I don’t know anything about her. Not anything real, at least.
“We were trying out an exercise routine from one of those videos on YouTube.” Gram talks animatedly with her hands, which draws my attention.
“Did you know they make routines you can do right in your bed? Brilliant!” She frowns.
“I didn’t realize how close I was to the edge, and I rolled over and plopped right off. ”
“She started howling with laughter,” Pa says, continuing the story. “I couldn’t get enough leverage to get her back upright.”
“I told him not to bother you,” Gram hurries to add, shooting Pa a scowl. “We probably took you away from your fun before you were ready.”
“What was I supposed to do, Lottie? Leave you to sleep on the floor all night?” Pa scowls back. “I never would have heard the end of how you’d wrecked your back.”
“The real question here,” I interrupt, “is why you were doing a workout routine at midnight on a Saturday?”
My grandma shrugs. “Insomnia is a weird thing, Teej, and when the inspiration strikes to move my body, I’m going to take it. Keeps me young. Why not work out in the middle of the night, that’s what I always say.”
I massage my forehead. I have a faint indent from where the mask pressed into my skin. I wonder if Cinderella does too. I wonder what her face looks like. Does she have laugh lines around her eyes? Does the skin above her nose wrinkle when she’s thinking?
Focus, TJ.
“You can always call me,” I tell them. “I’m happy to help, but next time, a little more information would be appreciated, Pa. I thought something was majorly wrong. You scared me.” My voice cracks, and my grandparents immediately sober.
“I’m so sorry, dear.” Gram stands and crosses the room, pulling me into one of her pillowy hugs.
She’s shorter than me by almost a foot, but her hugs are my favorite, and she always holds on extra-long.
I relax into her, relishing the way she still strokes my back with her fingertips, even though I’m twenty-six years old.
We have a shared history of getting really bad news—life-changing, soul-altering news—over the phone.
Them, when my parents died. Me, with Tess.
“I didn’t mean to make you worry,” Pa adds, clasping a hand on my shoulder. “You know I’m not good with texting. Takes forever for me to get these clumsy thumbs to do what I want them to.”
I smile at him when Gram releases me. “I know, Pa. It’s all good. I’m glad you’re okay.”
They follow me back out into their living space, which they have decorated like a beachside oasis.
Their décor would be more fitting in sunny Florida as opposed to the grey-and-brown tundra of Green Bay in November.
But it feels like home. Gram has always loved turquoise and orange.
This is how our house was decorated growing up.
It’s charming to me, and I feel instantly calm here …
especially now that I know they’re safe and nothing is seriously wrong.
We make quick work of saying goodbyes, all of us stifling yawns. Gram and Pa promise to see me after our home game on Sunday.
I check my phone before pulling away from their house to find a handful of texts from the guys, asking where I went and wanting to know what was going on.
I tell them that Cinderella got away because I went to my grandparents’ house.
They won’t make fun of me for that. They all love Gram and Pa almost as much as I do.
I pause when I open a message from Ned, instantly feeling wide awake.
Ned
If you didn’t track down your girl tonight, I have an idea of how we can find her. Let’s talk.