“I should’ve known,” I mumbled, grabbing my wallet and keys.
12:37 AM
I nodded at the night nurse before entering my grandfather’s private quarters. A deep pang seized my chest from the sight of him. Guilt and shame swallowed me up like quicksand—tugging me down faster and faster with each desperate plea for more time until I could no longer see the surface. I stared down at his willowy form and the deep wrinkles on his face and thought back to all the times I had taken him for granted.
God, what I’d give if I could just have more time.
I circled the bed to where Kiyah sat. She scooted the chair as close as possible to the bed and rested her upper body on the mattress. In one hand, she held Granddad’s hand, and in the other, she tightly grasped the motel room key.
My fingers gently caressed her shoulder, rousing her from her sleep. She popped up and frantically looked around the room as she tried to orient herself.
“Grant? What are you—what time is it?” She checked her watch and gasped. “Baby, I’m—”
“Shhh. It’s okay. I know.”
“I wanted to see Granddad, bring him a piece of cake, and show him photos and videos from the wedding.”
“He can’t eat cake, sweetheart.”
Her bottom lip trembled, and her eyes glazed over. “I know he can’t eat cake. I ate the cake, but it’s the thought that counts. I swear to God I would’ve been there, but I fell asleep.”
I could hear the desperate pleading in her voice—begging for me to give her another chance, but she never had to beg me. For as long as I had breath, I belonged to her, and she belonged to me.
“Kiyah, we’re good.”
“We are?” she asked hesitantly.
“We are. We have nearly ten more hours left in the room. Do you want to say anything else to Granddad before we leave?” I asked softly as I massaged the back of her neck. She shrugged as tears delicately cascaded down her cheeks. “I remember when Granddad found out that you broke your collarbone from the accident. He was so pissed off when Dad broke the news to him. He said, ‘God dammit! That’s her shooting arm!’” We snickered quietly, mindful of any nearby residents. “He used to enter you two into clay shooting tournaments at the country club.”
“I remember. You had to fill in for me,” Kiyah commented as she squeezed his hand.
“We lost by one clay, and I didn’t hear the fucking end of it. Granddad drove like a bat out of Hell, like he couldn’t dump me back home fast enough. I decided to fuck with him when I got out of the car.”
“What did you do?”
“I asked him if he wanted to go duck hunting.”
She laughed and urged me to continue. “And what did he have to say about that?”
“He told me to go to Hell,” I confessed, chuckling and wiping away tears. “God, he was such a hard ass.”
“You two are so alike that it’s scary,” she said with a sigh.
“I pray that I get to see the day our children call me a hard ass. I’ll wear it like a badge of honor.”
“You’d make an amazing father, Grant,” Kiyah said, rising from the chair.
“Well… there’s only one way to find out,” I said, taking her hand.
Her mouth gaped in disbelief. “Are you serious, G?”
“I think ten hours is sufficient time to make a baby. Toss the pills, Mrs. Baker.”
“If you say so, Mr. Baker.”
Kiyah
My back settled against the door at the same time Grant’s lips landed at that special spot at the base of my throat. I wanted to touch him—run my fingers through the strands of his hair that loosened from the gel. I wanted to pull his hair until he winced and threatened me with payback that I would come to enjoy. His hands grasped my wrists by my side like a set of iron manacles; the more I tried to squirm out of his hold, the tighter he squeezed.
