“So why no television? No friends? Why did you keep me away from Grandma Flowers?”
That made her tense right up. “You’re very vulnerable, Ava. When your memory starts over, I have to be careful about what influences your personality. I wouldn’t have allowed it in the hospital, but they were trying to take you from me after that stunt you pulled.”
I wished they had but didn’t say it aloud. “You were wrong about Grandma Flowers. She was nice to me. She showed me how to grow things.” I plucked more forcefully, and my hand brushed against a barren stem. Thorns stabbed my arm, drawing blood.
“I was the one who showed you how to tend flowers. You’ve loved them since you were small. That neighbor was a meddling woman who couldn’t mind her own business.”
“She cared about me.”
“I care about you!”
The line of blood welled up, but I ignored the sting. It was nothing compared to my huge, looming problems.
When I kept fiddling with the flowers, refusing to look at her, Mother stood. “When you’re done there, I could use you to help me prop up the back porch. It’s not safe to godown those stairs right now, and I’m tired of having to walk around.”
She disappeared inside the house, and I pressed my hand against the bleeding cut. I had no interest in helping her. I was perfectly happy to stay here with my roses and their thorns.
CHAPTER 16
Tucker
How could a person simply disappear?
I banged on my keyboard for the hundredth time that afternoon.
I couldn’t find her.
Gram stepped inside my room. “You okay?”
I pushed the laptop farther back on my desk. “She’s nowhere. The hospital won’t talk to me, not that they’d know anything. There’s nobody with her name looking for a new apartment or a job anywhere on the internet. I don’t know what else to do.”
“It’s hard, baby. I know.” She came up behind me. “But I brought something that might cheer you up.” She held a plastic suit bag out so I could see it, then unzipped it down the middle.
Inside was a black rented tux.
I pushed my chair away from her. “I’m not going.”
Her hopeful expression fell. “To prom? You were so excited about it!”
“When I was taking Ava!”
Gram sat on the bed, the tux on her lap. “That wasalways a long shot. You didn’t know for sure she could get away that early in the evening.”
“But at least I had hope. Now, there’s nothing.”
“Won’t your friends miss you?”
“They won’t miss my bad attitude.” A pain struck my head, and I pressed my palms into both temples. Sometimes pressure helped.
“Another headache?”
“Just stress. This is stressful!”
“I know. I know.” She stood. “It’s a hard time. I thought prom might be a good distraction. I’ll leave this in your closet in case you change your mind.”
“I won’t.”
Of course, the minute Bill and Carlos caught wind of my refusal to go to prom, they went all out to convince me to change my mind. Carlos insisted I not leave him as the third wheel with Bill and Sarah, who were bound to get tossed from the dance for getting too friendly.
