Chapter Thirty-Six
The Harrington Cabin
“Thank you, guys. For everything.” Jill got out of Landon’s truck first, then helped Grandma climb down.
She wasn’t sure which one of them was more exhausted. Aly offered to come in and help out, but Jill had begged her off.
Maybe tomorrow. For today, she just wanted to be alone with her grandmother and … sleep. Try to find some semblance of normal. Try to absorb everything they’d been through.
Detective Hayes had said Grandma gave him a coherent and precise recounting of events, verbally even, but Jill hadn’t heard Glenda speak since before the police station.
That was okay. Maybe this whole thing would cause a kind of verbal regression, but surely it would be a momentary setback. If it wasn’t? It didn’t matter.
Jill would be here. No matter what.
She led Grandma into the living room, nudged her to take a seat on the couch. She wanted Grandma to go to bed, but Jill figured they needed a few moments to settle, to steady. Just a moment to breathe before they tried to sleep, even if they didn’t talk about anything that had happened.
“How about some tea?”
But before Jill could head for the kitchen, Grandma took her hand and pulled Jill onto the couch next to her.
She kept a firm grip on Jill’s hands, looked her right in the eye, and spoke. “Thank you. For the truth. I didn’t want it. But that was fear. You were right, and now we know, and…” She sucked in a deep, shaky breath. “It gives me a piece of him back that I thought I’d lost.”
For a moment, Jill just stared. Then Grandma pulled her into a hug, and they stayed there for a very long time. Holding on to each other. They both cried, because the past still hurt, and no doubt secrets still existed in Grandma’s past.
But the one that had held Grandma tight in its grip and its pain was lifted now, and Jill knew she’d set that domino in motion.
“I’m sorry it hurt, but I’m glad you have it.”
Grandma nodded slowly.
She was still gripping Jill tight. “You’ve been my light these past few years, when I really wanted to hold onto the dark. I’m grateful that you came to take care of me. And I’m so glad that you found your place here.”
Jill thought maybe this was some kind of realistic dream. Grandma was being so … expressive. Speaking easily. Like the truth had really set something inside of her loose. Free. It was almost hard to believe this could be real.
But by God, they’d been through enough. Didn’t they deserve a little free and easy?
Grandma inhaled deeply. Then she released Jill.
She leaned back. “Let’s have that tea,” Grandma said. “And I’ll tell you about him.”
Jill blinked back a few more tears. She made the tea, then sat down and drank it while learning about the grandfather she’d never known, and the parts of her grandmother that Glenda had always kept hidden.
Nothing could change what had happened, but Jill liked to think this could change everything for her and Grandma from here on out.
Because this was her place. Here with Grandma.