Nonni distracted me and I’ve completely forgotten about the problem at hand, until Vee reaches behind her and pulls the curtain across the room in a flash of blue fabric. We’re engulfed in sunlight, and there in her bed is my Gram. She claps her hands together in excitement, but she isn’t looking at me, she’s looking at Vee. I stand in shock as Vee bends down and gives my grandmother a hug full of familiarity.
“Hey, Grace.” Vee is holding one of her hands as she speaks to her. “How are you feeling today?”
Gram pats Vee’s hand slowly. “Good, honey, I’m good.”
Vee turns, pressing her mouth to my ear. “See, I have secrets too.” She takes Gram’s hand and nods toward me. “Grace, I think you already know myboyfriend,Cam.” She smiles at me as I stand staring at the two of them, completely thrown by what is happening.
“He looks like my grandson.” Gram reaches for my hand and I step forward to hold it. Vee takes my other hand, keeping it by her side.
“He sure does.” Vee reaches up and rubs her hand over my hair like I’m a little boy. “I think he’s a little cuter, though.” She grabs my face roughly in one hand, squeezing my cheeks together. “Don’t you think?”
“Thatisyour grandson,” Nonni offers in a firm voice. “See over there.” She nods toward the dresser. It’s lined with photoframes—the large one of my family is still there, but there are others, too. There’s a photo of me onstage, playing my guitar—taken at one of the small clubs we played in Houston; and a photo of Logan, Anders, Reese, and me, sitting on a couch backstage before a performance. And a heart-shaped frame with a photo of me and Vee sitting side by side, playing “This Girl” onstage the first time. Every photo has a little white sticker across it with everyone’s names printed out.
Gram just looks at the pictures and nods her head as Vee squeezes my hand.
“Thank you,” I whisper in her ear as I kiss her temple.
“How’s the apartment search going?” Nonni asks.
Vee and I sit down in the plastic chairs between the two beds. “It’s not, really,” she says. “I forgot how ridiculously expensive everything is. It’s too late to get anything on campus. And I’m still looking for a new job. Money from my online videos is just enough to pay my bills at the moment. Until I find something, swinging an apartment by myself isn’t an option.”
I take Vee’s hand in mine, lacing our fingers together on top of the armrest. “I wanted to talk to you about that, actually.”
She looks panicked. “We can’t move in together.” Her voice is quiet, like she doesn’t want our grandmothers to know she’s rejecting me.
“Vee, just—”
She’s giving me a shut-this-down-or-I’ll-shut-you-down look. “Cam.”
“It’s just an idea. I thought—”
Vee slides forward in her chair. “Let’s talk about it later?”
“I’d like to hear this idea,” Nonni says, and I officially love her.
“Nonni, we’re—”
I cut Vee off before she can finish. “Nonni, excuse us for a second while I calm down your neurotic granddaughter.” I turnVee’s chair toward me and put my hands on her shoulders. “Stop panicking.” I smile, amused by how worked up she is, and she glares at me. Her face is etched with irritation. “I’m not asking you to move in with me.”
“You’re not?” She looks confused, and it may be the optimist in me—because Iwillask her to move in with me someday—but I think I see a little disappointment, too.
“I’m not.” I squeeze her shoulders and take her hand again, as I turn her chair back around.
Nonni smiles at me. “I like this one.”
“See, she likes me.” I give Vee a cocky smile.
“She’s always liked you,” she says, matter-of-factly.
“She just met me.”
Vee raises her eyebrows at me and Nonni laughs. “I might be old, but I remember a face when I see it every day. And you spent a whole lot of time lurking behind that curtain while this one”—she nods toward Vee—“was visiting with me.”
I open my mouth to speak, but don’t know what to say. Vee bursts into laughter beside me.
“I always joked about you stalking me, but really”—she’s trying not to smile and failing—“at a nursing home?”
“What can I say?” I raise one of her hands to my lips. “The two people I love most spend a lot of time at nursing homes.”
