“Tell me more about your work.”
“Right.” I trace the worn stitching on the Donnelly Dairy hat on my head and continue where I left off explaining what animal therapies I get to learn about through Merrywood Farms. “Honestly, it never fails to amaze me how well the animals read us. They’re so smart.”
The soft smile he gives me is full of love. “I’m very proud of you, Maya. You know that, right?”
I nod. “It’s all because you set me on this path.”
“No.” He shakes his head. “You’ve done far more than I could dream to in my lifetime. This is all you, my brilliant girl.”
A wobbly smile tugs at my lips. “I can’t believe I’m almost done, though. In a few more months, I’ll finish this degree. Mom and Dad are starting to plan how we’ll celebrate after the graduation ceremony.”
He hums in acknowledgement.
“They were saying you guys might take a trip down to spend the week in Heston Lake until the ceremony. Then Mom was thinking we could go out for a big dinner together.”
Grandpa goes quiet for a long time. Sometimes he gets like this when he’s going through a bout of pain, but doesn’t want to burden anyone.
Worried, I touch his arm. “Are you okay?”
His somber expression crumples. The gutting turmoil written across his face steals my breath away. He chokes out a broken sob that cleaves my heart in half and sinks my stomach with dread.
“I’m going to make it, Maya. I promise.”
An icy spike drives into my chest with an aching blow at the defeated confession, pain radiating through me. My emotions unravel as quickly as his, my breath catching with a whimpering gasp. Tears overflow and stream down my cheeks.
I throw my arms around him, clutching him as if my desperation could keep him here as long as I need him. God, please. I don’t want to lose him.
His body feels so frail, trembling with his wheezing sobs.
A world without him is unfathomable. As he’s aged and weathered his illness attacking his body, he’s remained happy. It unnerves me to see his fortitude rattled to reveal the truth he hides from all of us.
Since I was a little girl, he’s the one that held me up with a strength I always believed was infinite and unstoppable. Seeing him break down completely, swearing he’ll live long enough to see what I’ve been working towards so hard, absolutely decimates me.
“I’m sorry,” he pleads. “I promise I’ll still be here.”
I have no words. Everything I try to say can’t escape, trapped by the lump lodged in my throat. All I’m able to do is bury my tear-streaked face into his shoulder with a devastated nod.
“I promise,” he repeats again and again.
I hug him tighter, willing my heart not to shatter into a thousand pieces.
A week later, I have the apartment to myself while Reagan goes down to the city for a small show. Easton’s away for the weekend, too. The team left after last night’s game and won’t return until late tomorrow night.
Other than going to class, I’ve spent the week holed up in my room or at the library. I can’t stop working. Guilt plagues me if I take a break because I could be productive instead. It’s the only thing I could think to do after I got back from seeing my grandfather.
The one thing that keeps me sane is fiddling with the gold spiral ring Easton got for me when I get overwhelmed by everything I want to get done to the point of paralysis.
My phone screen lights up with Easton’s name and a goofy photo he took of us while I’m taking notes at my desk. He texted me an hour ago to say his game was done and he’d call when he got to the hotel. I set my notes aside and answer the video call.
The world stops spinning out of my control and every worry on my mind slips away when he appears on screen.
“Hi.”
“Hey. What are you doing?”
“Research for the topic I need to present on. Did you win?”
He sighs, scraping a hand through his hair. “Nah. It wasn’t a bad loss, we just didn’t have it together to put up more points. Cam might have a groin injury. He’s still getting it checked out now.”
