He frowned. “Today?”
She simply nodded as she sat down on the chair by the closet.
“Am I going?” He stood up, rubbing his grizzled gray chin as if planning to do something about the several days’ growth of whiskers. She’d already reminded him over and over today he needed a shave. Not because she particularly cared that he looked unkempt. Nothing new about that. He actually looked kind of cute with some scruff. But she’d pointed it out in an effort to distract him from dogging her heels. But each time he’d walkedoff to the bathroom, he’d returned too quickly, clearly having forgotten why’d he’d gone in there. Sometimes he brought back a hand towel or a soap dish, like she’d asked for it.
“I’d like you to go with us,” she said carefully, bending to buckle her sandal.
He nodded. “Okay.”
She tipped her head toward the clean shirt she’d laid out on his side of the bed earlier that afternoon, when she’d first suggested he might shower. It was too late for that now. But CT looked down at the stained T-shirt he was wearing. “I like this shirt.”
“Yes, I know.” She stood to pick up the white-and-turquoise Hawaiian shirt she’d set on the bed. “But we got this in Maui,” she said, inserting extra cheer into her voice. “Remember?”
His eyes lit up. “Yes.”
“I’d love to see it on you.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
“I’ll be in the kitchen.” She kissed his grizzly cheek. “I’m glad you want to go with me, CT. It’ll be fun.”
“Fun,” he echoed as he struggled to tug off his T-shirt. She resisted the urge to help him, remembering the advice she’d been given. “Let him do for himself as much as he can for as long as he can.” Even so, she reached for the deodorant on his dresser. “How about some of this too?” She smiled. “Make you smell nice.”
“Okay.” He grinned at her, his hair tousled from removing the T-shirt.
“I’ll be in the kitchen,” she said again. “I need to slice some boiled eggs to put on the potato salad.”
“Huh?” He looked confused again. “Egg salad?”
“Never mind.” She laughed. “Just get ready for the barbecue, sweetie. We’ll leave in about twenty minutes.” She reminded him to use the bathroom, then left.
As she peeled the eggs she’d boiled earlier, she felt a smidgeon of guilt for being disingenuous regarding the location of the barbecue. But each time she’d mentioned the Orosco name earlier, he’d gone into a tizzy. Her plan now was to drive him around abit, then get him peacefully next door. If she got lucky, he might not realize whose house they were at. What he might do when he did figure things out was anyone’s guess. But she would just have to deal with that then.
“Is Grandpa coming?” Cooper asked as she filled a water bottle in the kitchen.
“I think so.” Honey sliced an egg, then gave Cooper a closer look, smiling to see her granddaughter had dressed slightly more conservatively. Probably Anna’s influence. She still had on tattered jeans like all the kids wore, but with her white Converse and plaid shirt, she looked more like the local kids. Honey considered a compliment but knew that could backfire. Instead, she focused on Cooper’s feet. “I like your shoes. Takes me back to my youth.”
“You wore Converse?”
“Sure. They were from the boys’ department and black-and-white, but I thought they were pretty cool.”
Cooper smiled. “Yeah.”
“A lot of trends come back in time.” She sighed nostalgically. “Like Birkenstocks.”
Cooper beamed at her. “You know about Birkenstocks?”
Honey laughed. “Do I?” She spread the sliced eggs on top of the salad. “I still have an old pair that I got back when they first came out.”
“Vintage Birkies?” Cooper’s eyes lit.
“I guess so. I don’t wear them anymore.”
“What size are they?”
“Eight.”
Cooper’s jaw dropped. “That’s my size, Grandma.”
