Chapter 35 Astrid
ASTRID
“Thanks for driving me,” I tell Callan, unclipping my seat belt when we reach the hospital, and he parks in a spot a few feet from the entrance.
“Of course.”
I cup his face and kiss him hard. “I’m sorry to cut our date short, and thank you again for organizing it. It was the best night of my life.”
“I like spoiling you.”
His eyes probe mine, and I know what he wants. I could keep him hanging till tomorrow, but that would be mean, and I’ve already made my mind up. “You’re so good at it…boyfriend.”
His entire face lights up, and it mirrors the exuberance I’m feeling inside, which feels wrong to say when Mara’s in the hospital, but I’m done denying my emotions.
“For real?”
“Yes.” I wind my arms around his neck and pepper his face with kisses. “I’m trusting you, Callan.” I run my fingers through the light stubble on his chin and cheeks. “Don’t make me regret it.”
“I promise you won’t.” Taking my hand, he presses a kiss to my palm. “Thanks for giving me a second chance. I’m going to worship you like a princess.”
My heart spins loops at his words. “What we have is too special to let go.”
“It is. No one has ever made me feel like this. I’m crazy about you.” He reels me into his chest and kisses me.
Reluctantly, I break away. “I have to go. Gwen needs me.”
“I’ll walk you in,” he says, jumping out and rounding the car to open my door for me.
It still gives me a thrill anytime he does stuff like this.
Callan is the physical manifestation of the Prince Charming I’ve conjured in my head since I was a little girl, and I love it.
Honestly, I don’t know how I made it two weeks before caving.
I feel like I deserve an award or something.
Callan holds my hand as we make our way inside, quickly finding my parents waiting with Gwen, Scott, and Scott’s parents in the main hospital waiting room.
I’d called Mom and Dad after Gwen phoned me, knowing they’d want to be here.
My sisters were already fast asleep, so Roni is over at our house watching them for now.
Gwen jumps up the instant she sees me, throwing herself into my arms. “Azzie,” she sobs. “I’m so scared.”
“Mara’s a fighter. She’ll pull through,” I say, hugging her tight and hoping it’s true. Mara was still unconscious when the ambulance took her in, and I’m praying she is okay. She is the only blood relative Gwen has left in this world.
“Cal.” Gwen throws her arms around my boyfriend. “Thanks so much for coming.”
“Ugh, no problem.” Callan awkwardly pats her back before I pull Gwen away from him, sensing his discomfort.
“Come sit and tell me what happened.” I wrap my arms around her, walking over to two empty seats beside my parents.
Mom flashes me a look, compassion splaying across her face as she looks at where Gwen is clinging to me and crying. Scott gets up and comes over, sitting on her other side, gently hauling her into his lap. Gwen practically chokes him as she buries her face in his neck and loudly cries.
“It was good of you to drop Astrid off, Callan,” Dad says, standing and pumping his hand.
“It was no bother. Astrid was worried, and she wanted to be here for Gwen.” He rubs the back of his neck when Dad lets go of his hand. “I’m going to head home and relieve Mum at your place. Don’t rush back. I’ll look after the girls if they wake or you’re not back before morning.”
“That’s very kind of you, Callan.” Mom hugs him, and he hugs her back. “Help yourself to anything in the house if you’re hungry or thirsty.”
After we just stuffed our faces, I’m doubting he’ll want anything. Then again, boys seem to have endless pits for stomachs.
“I will. Thanks.”
“The fire should still be lit, and there are plenty of logs, but if you get cold, grab a duvet or blanket from the linen cupboard.”
“I’ll be fine, Elsa. Don’t sweat it.”
“Thanks, Callan. We owe you,” Dad adds.
I get up and walk over to him. “Drive safely,” I tell him, taking his hands in mine. “And message me when you get there.”
He nods, and I stretch on my tiptoes and peck his lips. “Later.”
“Bye, beautiful.”
It’s hard to tear my eyes from his receding form as he walks off, but I’m here for Gwen, so I reclaim my seat beside her and give her my full attention. She’s draped all over Scott, her tearstained face resting on his chest as she stares at me with a weird look. “So, you’re back together?”
I wish she’d lower her voice because my parents are listening to every word, but I say nothing because Gwen has a lot on her plate.
I just nod in confirmation. She stares at me for a few awkward moments before twining her fingers in mine and smiling.
“Good. At least one of us is having a great night.”
Mara dies at five a.m. with her weeping granddaughter by her side.
Mom insists Gwen come back to our house, and I try to hold her together in the back seat while Mom drives us home.
Dad is visibly upset. It’s one of the few times I’ve ever seen my father crying, and I can’t keep the tears from rolling down my face either.
Never in a million years did I think Gwen would lose her mormor so soon after I lost mine, and my heart is breaking all over again.
It's after six when we finally make it home. I get Gwen settled in my bed before I pad downstairs to say goodbye to Callan. He looks as exhausted as I feel, rubbing his eyes and trying to smother a yawn. “Thanks for doing this.”
He opens his arms and I fall into them. “I’m glad to help. I’m sorry about Gwen’s gran. That’s rough.”
“Yeah. This is going to be really hard on her.”
We hug one another silently, and I wish I could fall asleep in his comforting arms. My eyes close of their own volition and I yawn. “You should go to bed,” Callan whispers, dotting kisses into my hair. “You must be knackered.”
“See you tomorrow?”
“I don’t have any concrete plans, so message me when you’re up.”
I walk him to the door, sharing a lingering kiss before we part ways.
My parents are in the kitchen, nursing herbal teas and talking in hushed voices, when I enter the room. “What will happen to Gwen now?” I ask, cutting across their conversation.
“We were just discussing that.” Mom brushes hair out of my eyes before pulling me into a hug. “She is welcome to stay here for however long she needs to. I’ll clear out the spare room tomorrow and fix it into a nice bedroom for her.”
I’m not sure Gwen will appreciate living within the confines of Dad’s strict rules. She’s used to staying over at Scott’s and him sleeping over at her place at will. But I’m sure she’ll appreciate the offer, and I hope she’ll at least take it up in the short term. “I’ll help.”
“I’ll talk to Peter Stevens in the morning,” Dad says, referring to his lawyer.
Bruising shadows cling to the skin under his eyes as he rubs his jaw.
“She’s almost eighteen, so there must be a way for her to stay in the house.
I don’t know if Mara had a will, but Gwen is her only living relative and heir, and everything will go to her anyway. ”
“I’m so sorry, Daddy.” I leave Mom’s comforting embrace to hug my dad. “I know how much Mara meant to you.”
“It’s such a shock. I know she had health issues, but I never imagined she’d go so soon or like this. What the hell was she thinking going upstairs when Gwen was out?”
“That poor girl.” Tears well in Mom’s eyes as she circles her arms around us. “I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like to come home and find Mara like that. She’s going to need all our love and support.”
“Thanks for taking her in.” My parents truly are the best.
“Nonsense. She’s basically my fourth daughter,” Mom says. “Gwen belongs with us, and we’ll take care of her.”
Gwen stays with us in the aftermath of the funeral while Dad and the lawyer work through all the legalities.
Gwen went before the court yesterday, and she’s now emancipated.
The court also gave her permission to reside in the house until it goes through probate, and she’s planning to move back there this weekend.
“Babe, you don’t mind if I wear this again, right?” Gwen asks, coming out of my closet in a black lacy bra and matching thong, brandishing the plaid miniskirt I was planning on wearing to Thanksgiving dinner at the Hunts’.
“No, of course not. I told you to borrow anything you like.” Something Gwen has been taking liberally, but if wearing my stuff makes her happy, then she’s welcome to them.
Since that first night at the hospital when Gwen sobbed her heart out, she has barely shed a tear, and I’m worried about her.
Mom is too. It’s obvious she’s bottling her grief up.
She shuts down anytime we try to talk to her about the events of that night or her gran.
Mom has suggested therapy, but Gwen isn’t interested, and I’ve had to tell Mom to back off.
Grief is individual, and we all process it differently.
I know that from recent personal experience, and I’m not going to criticize Gwen for doing what she needs to do for her sanity.
“You look like you’ve lost weight.” Not that Gwen needed to lose weight, but she’s noticeably thinner.
“Grief will do that to a person.” She shimmies the skirt up her legs and over her hips before staring at herself in the full-length mirror secured to the back of my bedroom door. She cocks her head to one side before cupping her boobs. “Thankfully, the girls are the same size.”
“I’m so jealous,” I say, staring at my modest B-cup chest. “I’d love bigger boobs.”
“There’s always cosmetic surgery,” she says before pulling a tight pink sweater on.
“Not for me,” I say, stripping my tights off and padding into my closet where I choose a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved white top to go with an oversized tan blazer and brown boots. A few chunky necklaces and bracelets complete the look.
“You look nice,” Gwen says when I emerge from the closet.
“Thanks. So do you.” She’s added white knee-high socks and black MJs with a low heel to her outfit. “You look so different.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Her eyes narrow in suspicion.
“It wasn’t an insult. You look fab, Gwen. It’s just your style has changed so much since you started dating Scott. You used to tease me for wearing similar outfits.”
“Like I said, chica, I’ve evolved.”
We do our makeup side by side in my bathroom, and I try to ignore the mess on the counter. Gwen has her own bedroom now, thanks to Mom’s and my handiwork, but she doesn’t have a bathroom, so she shares mine. Which I don’t mind, but I wish she’d clean up some of her mess.
“Here, try this.” She hands me a tube of red lip gloss.
It’s an expensive brand and still sealed in plastic.
It seems like every day she’s coming home with something new.
She doesn’t have access to whatever money Mara left yet, so Scott is clearly funding her.
I know his parents have decent jobs, but I didn’t realize they had money to burn.
“Red’s not really me.”
“It’s Thanksgiving, and we’re going to your boyfriend’s place for dinner. I know you want to look your best. You need some color to pick up that outfit, and your face is a little pale.”
“It is?”
“I’ve got an idea.” She whips the gloss from my hand. “Let me do your makeup. I’ll make you so beautiful, Callan won’t be able to keep his dick in his pants.” She gives me a gentle nudge. “Go sit down inside.”
I do as I’m told, and Gwen exits the en suite a few seconds later, carrying various bits of makeup in her arms. She dumps them on top of my desk before tilting my head back and examining my face.
“Close your eyes,” she says. “I’m going to make you look so gorgeous Callan won’t be able to keep his hands off you. ”