Wesley and I walk up the pathway to Rose’s front door. I wring my hands in front of me, and chew on my lower lip. I’m so nervous, I feel like I could puke. I’m not sure if Rose knows that I lied to her, but for some reason, I just feel it in my gut she does.
If her nurse mentioned anything about Wesley’s visit to the apartment last night, I have no doubt she’s put the pieces together. She’s like that. She has that mom or grandma sixth sense. She knew when I got fired at the school before I even said a word. She knows when I have a particularly difficult therapy appointment, just by the look on my face.
Even though I know I’m about to get in trouble, I can’t help but miss this familiarity I have with her. I just hope she can forgive me for lying straight to her face. It was all for her own good, and I couldn’t live with myself if I was the reason her health was neglected.
I stand there, staring at the salmon pink front door, gathering the courage to knock. The birds are chirping and the sun is shining, but it does nothing to stop the dread from trickling in. What if she wants nothing to do with me after this? She’s probably one of the most prideful people I’ve ever met, and when she learns what I did, I’m afraid she’ll never look me in the eye again.
Her independence is so important to her, and she doesn’t react well when I mention helping her in any way. Getting her to agree to me cooking dinner was hard enough.
I distantly hear Wesley trying to get my attention, but continue to spiral. I might not be Rose’s family, but she’s the only one I’ve got. She helped me heal. She talked shit about Daniel with me.
“Ivy.”
She listened to any and every story I wanted to tell about my parents. She calls them by their first names as if she knew them, and tells me how they would be proud of me. She’s filled that parent-shaped hole in my heart, and I’m not sure I could handle it if she were to, for lack of a better word, disown me.
“Honey,” Wesley says gently, finally breaking through my runaway train of thought.
“Hm?” I look up at him, and see a soft expression on his face.
“Whatever happens in there, no matter how she reacts, you two will eventually figure it out. No one can stay mad at that face.” He pinches my cheek. “You did a kind thing, and even if she doesn’t see it that way, she will eventually.”
“And if she doesn’t?” I ask quietly, desperation lacing every word.
“You’ll always have me. Always have Delilah. Good luck getting rid of her. That girl is obsessed,” he counters playfully.
“Like father, like daughter,” I say with a smirk, trying to lift my spirits.
“Apples don’t make oranges,” he quips, then winks. God, I love it when he winks. He continues. “You have Sophie, my parents, Maverick. Hell, even Lincoln. Even if something happens betweenus,” he says. “You’ll always have a place with me and my family, okay? God forbid this,” He points at the door. “Goes horribly wrong, you won’t be alone. No matter what. I swear to you.”
I nod and clear my throat while staring at the door, willing the lump to get lost. He better be careful saying stuff like that to me. If he keeps it up, I’ll have no choice but to fall very wildly, and very madly in love with him.
“Look at me,” Wesley says.
I crane my neck, and look into his piercing blue eyes. He grips my chin between his thumb and forefinger, and furrows his brow, morphing his soft expression from earlier into a serious one.
In a stern, no-nonsense tone, he says, “You can do this, baby. Knock.”
Yup. Wildly and madly.
He releases me, and I turn back to the door, and stand up straighter. He’s right. I can do this. I will apologize for lying, but I will not apologize for making her health and recovery a priority.
With a new found confidence, I raise my hand to knock firmly on the door. But before my fist gets a chanceto connect with the wood, the door swings open to reveal a tiny but mighty Rose.
“You just gonna stand on my porch whisperin’?” she asks, her snarky attitude alive and well.
“Maybe,” I reply, crossing my arms, attempting to go toe to toe with her.
“Is this the guy?” She lifts her hand from her walker and points at Wesley, but keeps her eyes on mine, not bothering to acknowledge his existence.
“It is,” I reply, hardening my resolve.
“Well then, come on in,liar,” she spits out the last word with disgust as she leaves the door open for us, and turns her walker around to head toward her recliner.
So… she knows. Got it.
I look over at Wesley, letting my mask fall, and he gives my hand a reassuring squeeze, then gently pushes my lower back, guiding me over the threshold, and into the house.
“Where is Tara?” I ask, looking around for her nurse.
