He'd grabbed a hamburger at the airport during his layover in Denver, but that was almost nine hours ago. All he'd had since then was a couple pieces of licorice and chocolate courtesy of Grace.
Grace.
He couldn't wait to see her again. The first thing he planned to do tomorrow after giving Paige a hug was to ask for Grace's phone number.
"It must have been horrible being stuck in that elevator." Mom set a glass of milk on the table then took the seat across from him.
Damon grinned after swallowing his mouthful of meatloaf. "It wasn't all bad."
"Ugh." She shuddered. "I don't see how any part of being trapped without lights and air conditioning could be good."
"Well, for starters, I wasn't alone."
Mom's right brow arched. "You didn't mention that on the phone."
"Must have slipped my mind." Damon smiled again after sticking a forkful of garlicky mashed potatoes into his mouth.
"There was a woman in the elevator with you, wasn't there?" she said knowingly. "I can tell by your grin. Tell me about her."
"It's possible you've met her. Her brother is Paige's fiancé."
"You were stuck in the elevator with Grace?" Her voice rose in pitch.
Damon nodded. "What do you know about her?"
"She's a lovely girl. Very devoted to her mother. She and Paige have become close friends." Mom fiddled with a napkin as she talked, folding it one way then another. She always had to be doing something with her hands. "We had a big movingparty last weekend. The whole family turned out to help move Faith down the street, then we all showed up at Grace and Gabe's new duplex when their moving truck arrived. Marisol, Grace's mother, was moved to tears. Grace shed a few too. She was so appreciative of the help, so she could focus on making her mother comfortable."
Her mother.
Damon recalled Paige's dramatic phone call a few months ago. She was engaged to her physical therapist but couldn’t tell anyone. It was supposed to be fake—to appease his mother who had stage four pancreatic cancer. When they fell in love for real, they couldn't announce it, because he wasn't supposed to date patients.
Grace's mother is dying.
A pang pricked his chest, so sharp he had to stop eating. No wonder she hesitated when he encouraged her to start her bucket list. Planning a future of fun and adventure was impossible when facing that kind of loss.
"Is there something wrong with your food?" Twin creases furrowed Mom's brow.
"No, it's great." Damon forced himself to take another bite. "I just figured I'd better slow down or I'll give myself indigestion." He looked around the kitchen searching for the cinnamon rolls. He spotted a big baking sheet on the far counter.
Mom's gaze followed his. "Of course I made my big ol' cinnamon rolls, but you need to finish your dinner first." She wagged a finger at him before she got to her feet and pulled another plate from the cupboard.
Damon waited until he'd finished his food and Mom had joined him again after placing a gooey six-inch cinnamon roll in front of him to ask the question that ate at him. "I know Grace's mom has cancer, but how sick is she?"
"She has multiple tumors in her pancreas, lung, stomach, and lymph nodes. It's inoperable, and she refuses to do chemotherapy, so they are focusing on slowing the growth of the cancer cells and keeping her comfortable." Mom's face grew pensive. "She's weak and frail, but she's hardly an invalid yet."
"Do they know how much longer she's expected to..." Damon's throat closed off at the thought of Grace losing her mother.
"I'm not sure they know. It didn't feel appropriate to ask."
"Yeah."
"I think Marisol will be around for a while yet but losing her is going to be hard on Gabe and Grace. They don't have any other family."
Another pang pierced Damon's chest. He couldn't imagine having only one brother to call family. He had two older half-brothers who were both married with kids, but he grew up so close to his cousins on his mom's side of the family that they were like siblings to him.
"You seem very interested in Grace and her mother." Mom's brow arched again as she studied his face.
"I am." There was no point in trying to hide it. He liked Grace and he wanted to get to know her and her family better.
