CHAPTER 8
Summer 13
My stomach rumbles grumpily, matching my mood for the morning after waking up at the butt crack of dawn for no apparent reason. I reach into the fridge for eggs, only to discover we’re out.How did we run out of eggs?My family always keep an extra package at the ready.
I sink into one of the barstools at the counter in defeat after putting a slice of bread in the toaster and peeling a banana. I guess this will have to do for now.
Upstairs, I hear a phone ring. It’s pretty early for anyone to be calling, so I step off my stool to patter to the bottom of the stairs and listen. My mom’s sleepy voice is mumbling. After a moment or two, her voice comes through clearer. “What?” There’s a pause as whoever is on the other end answers her question. My mom sounds like she’s crying as she responds. “I can’t believe this. What happened?” There’s a long, stunned pause. “I’ll make plans to fly out as soon as possible.”
I hear my dad’s soft mumble and more movement as my mom’s soft tears turn to loud sobs. I want to rush up to their room and figure out what’s going on, but I don’t want them toknow I was eavesdropping, so I just sit at the bottom of the stairs as I wonder what could be going on.
After about half an hour, my mom and dad come out of their room. My mom’s face is stained with tears. My dad has his arms wrapped around her as he holds a box of tissues in one hand. I stand from my spot on the stairs and meet my parents’ gaze. At the sight of me, my mom’s composure falters all over again, and my dad proceeds to console her.
“What’s going on?” I whisper, unreasonably afraid of speaking too loudly.
My dad walks my mom to the couch in the living room and motions for me to follow. I sit down in the recliner. With a voice coated in sorrow, my dad explains, “Grandpa had a heart attack this morning. He didn’t make it.”
My stomach drops. Grandpa was in such good health. Just a month ago, I spent the night at his house, and we baked all day.
My throat closes up and tears build in the corners of my eyes. Dad opens his arms up as I walk over and sit between him and Mom. I cry so hard I begin hiccupping. This can’t be happening. Grandpa was perfectly fine not that long ago. This doesn’t make sense.
We sit in a group hug until my tears finally slow and my hiccups stop. When we separate, I look up at the clock. It’s almost 9. Rebecca must be awake by now. I need to be with my best friend. I mutter some poor excuse for leaving as I run to my room and throw on denim shorts and a sweatshirt. I slip on a pair of flip-flops and walk out the back door without another word.
I head straight to the Martin’s house. They should probably all be awake by now, so I just knock on the door. Luckily Rebecca answers it, and as soon as I see her smiling face, I burst into tears again. She pulls me in for a tight hug and closes the door behind her, walking us out to the front porch. She sits onthe steps with me for a long while until I’m able to control the tears.
As I catch my breath and wipe my eyes, Rebecca suggests we walk down to the beach. “You’ll feel better if we walk a little,” she insists. Once we are down there, she picks up a pebble and skips it. I watch it graze the water five times before disappearing into the lake. She hands me a rock. “Let’s do this for a little bit, and then, when you’re ready, you can tell me what happened.”
We stay out there skipping rocks for at least ten minutes before either of us says another word. I take my time before I speak up, knowing she’s leaving everything up to me. I appreciate that. Rebecca’s a good friend. Honestly, she’s one of the best I could ever ask for.
“My mom just got a call from my aunt. My grandpa had a heart attack this morning, and they didn’t get him treatment in time. He’s gone.” I sniffle. “He wasjusthere doing normal things with me, and now he’s gone.”
“Oh, Emma, I’m so sorry.” Rebecca hugs me and hands me another rock. “Don’t stop skipping. We are going for a world record number of skips here.” With a soft smile, she adds, “Based on your skipping, it’s going to take some time.” Despite the insult, I find myself laughing. I didn’t even think I was capable of laughing at a time like this.
“I don’t know what to do, Becs. My grandpa has been such a huge part of my life. It’s only been a couple of hours since I knew he was gone, but it already hurts so badly. I want the aching to stop.”
She kicks the rocks around a little, looking for another flat stone. When she finds one, she hands it to me. “It’s okay for it to hurt. The hurting only means you care. Yes, it sucks that he won’t be around anymore, but think about all the memories you have to be grateful for, all the lessons he probably taught you. When you think about it, you’re lucky to be hurtingright now.” She laughs lightly. “I know I sound like a lunatic for saying this, but it means you had someone great enough to be sad about losing. That’s pretty special.” There’s a pause. I hate that she’s right. It’d be so much easier to just spend the day curled up in bed, wallowing in my sorrow, but I know Rebecca isn’t about to let that happen.
She hands me another rock and then skips one of her own. “Tell me more about your grandpa. I want to hear about what made him so special to you.”
I skip mine, and it bounces the most I’ve seen so far today. It’s almost as if Grandpa was looking down and sayinglook what I can do now.I sigh. “I don’t even know where to begin. There were lots of things that made him special.”
“I don’t have any plans today. Start wherever you want.” She shrugs. “I’ve got time.”
“He was the one who got me into reading. It started as him telling me all kinds of stories about dragons, fairies, and goblins. They were pretty crazy stories. I can’t believe he’d make them up on the spot like he did.” I take a moment to reflect on the memory. “Then he bought me this book that he always kept at his house. Every time I came over, he’d read it with me. It was this giant book, unreasonably sized for being made for children.” I gesture to show her its height and width. “It was filled with different fairytales likeThe Princess and the PeaandGoldilocks and the Three Bears.He helped me learn that reading can be an escape to another world with exciting adventures I’d never have on my own.”
“I never knew your grandpa was the one who got you into reading.”
“I guess that was something I had just taken for granted.”
“What else did you guys do together?” She prods me to keep talking as she also hands me another rock to skip. I’ll admit focusing on skipping rocks does help distract me from my emotions.
“We baked together a lot. He was a really good chef and baker, but I always preferred baking. He had this chocolate chip cookie recipe where he’d put cinnamon in the cookies. It seemed weird, so I refused to try for years, and then when I finally agreed to try them, I fell in love and regretted being so stubborn.”
Rebecca laughs at that. “So you’ve always been this resistant to change?”
“Hey!” I laugh with her a little before turning serious again. “I guess so.”
We skip rocks simultaneously, and I can’t help but grin when mine skips once more than hers. I am getting good at this. “In the last year or two, he started teaching me other recipes he has like his sourdough bread and sugar cookies. I’m still partial to those chocolate chip cookies though. They’re so soft, and the cinnamon brings out the chocolate. Maybe I can make them for you sometime.”
