“Why is that good?” Benny asked.
“Maybe they don’t have signal, and she just can’t text to tell us Red is fine.”
Clinging to that, Benny, Olivia, and Kat all climbed out of the back and walked toward the big gray stone and glass hospital rising out of the snow. The lights were bright, leading to a lobby that looked more like a ski lodge than a place for sick people.
Benny tried not to run, but he was ahead of the others when the automatic doors whooshed open and Mom walked out, looking at her phone.
“Mom!”
“Benny!”
They shot toward each other, her arms out. He collided with her like a cannonball, arms wrapping tight around her waist.
She fell to her knees on the pavement, hugging him so hard it almost hurt. “Oh, Benny,” she breathed into his hair. “I’ve been trying to call. There’s no signal inside—oh, sweetheart, he’s okay. Grandpa is just fine.”
Benny froze. “Really? He’s not going to die?”
“Nope, he just had terrible heartburn,” she said, laughing and crying all at once. “It wasn’t a heart attack. The doctors said he scared ten years off all of us, but he’s fine. He’s getting a lecture about what he eats now…” She looked up, her gaze over Benny’s head at Marshall, who’d just caught up. “Guess we’ll send him to Craving Clean when he wants a cream puff.”
For a second, Benny couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. And then everything inside him kind of fell apart when he realized Grandpa would be fine. Fighting another sob, he leaned into his mother as she slowly stood, still holding him.
“He’s really okay?” Marshall asked.
“Are you sure?” Olivia demanded.
“Really.” She nodded, smiling through tears and stroking Benny’s hair like she did when she was really worked up about something. “He has zero indicators of a heart attack or any heart problems at all. They have a test they run that lets them immediately know if there’s been a cardiac incident. This is definitely just severe heartburn.”
“I told him not to eat that second hot dog before we skated,” Benny muttered.
Marshall groaned. “I need to spend a week with that man and straighten him out.”
Just then, more of Benny’s family came out—Uncle Jack, Cameron, and Nicole—all rushing to hug Benny and share the good news.
“Where’s Grandma?” Benny asked, looking around.
“She’s with my mom, talking to the doctors,” Nicole said, reaching down to straighten his glasses. “How are you doing, little dude?”
“I’m okay,” he said.
Everyone started talking at once, hugging and laughing, and making Benny feel a little dizzy with relief.
Then he saw Marshall move toward his mom, kind of taking her to the side. He said something to her, and Mom looked up at him, not smiling.
He couldn’t hear what she said, but Mom glanced at Benny, her eyes bright with more tears.
Olivia sidled up next to him, pushing him closer to eavesdrop.
“Gracie, I’m sorry,” they heard Marshall say. “I was completely wrong and I’m sorry.”
“What was he wrong about?” Olivia muttered.
“I don’t know,” Benny said, turning to her. “But I think we’ve caused enough trouble.”
She started to smile, looking right past him. “Maybe. But check it out, Benny McBride. All that trouble…worked.”
He turned just as Marshall and his mom hugged and?—
“What?” he breathed, watching them…oh.
