I lied. I was going to let her sleep as long as her body asked for.
I stood at the foot of the bed for a moment and just looked at her. It had taken time and therapy for the nightmares to ease up. Watching her settle into sleep without flinching, without jolting awake, was something I was still getting used to in the best way. I turned and eased the door shut behind me.
I had been greedy with her earlier, so I owed her the cooking prep on my own. The moment I made it downstairs, my grandma was already in the kitchen working through the sides Solana had laid out on the counter. My grandad sat at the island with his newspaper and a cup of coffee, settled into his morning routine the way he always had.
They had asked to come early since they hadn't met Solana yet and my grandma had wanted to cook alongside her. Now it looked like she would be doing it solo, which she didn't seem to mind. I knew Solana was going to have something to say to me about it later.
I went around and hugged my grandma, keeping the kiss on the cheek to myself this time. I had brushed, flossed, and used mouthwash, but I still wasn't going to do that to her. Some things were just about respect.
"Keep it up and I'll be bouncing a great-grandchild on my knee before the year is out," my grandad said without looking up from his paper.
I smirked and shrugged. My grandma snapped me with the dish towel.
"She should have stayed down here with us. Not my fault she's addicting," I said.
My grandma shook her head. "I hope you plan to marry that woman since you're around here carrying on like this."
I washed my hands at the sink and looked back at her over my shoulder.
"You don't even have to wonder about that. It's only ever going to be her."
She softened at that, then pointed her dish towel at me. "Good. Now come help me get this food going. You got that sweet girl all turned around because of you."
I grabbed the ribs I had been soaking in vinegar and headed outside to the grill. If only she knew there wasn't much sweetabout what had just happened upstairs, but some things were mine to keep.
My grandad followed me out and settled into the chair beside the grill. He pulled two cigars from the case he was carrying and held one out to me. We clipped and lit them while I got the grill started, and I let the silence sit between us the way it always had when he had something on his mind.
He let a few minutes pass before he cleared his throat.
"It's been a while since we talked. I wanted you to know how proud I am of the man I'm looking at right now. We heard you that day, son. Loud and clear. I didn't love the way it came out, but it was the truth and we both knew it. We hadn't been helping your mother. We'd been protecting ourselves from the guilt of watching her fall."
He paused. I closed the grill lid and walked over to take the seat across from him.
"I could have said it better. That's on me. But I was tired of watching the same cycle play out and knowing she'd end up back in my lap the moment things got hard again. She wasn't my child, but she was my child, if that makes any sense. And I hadn't dealt with that contradiction the way I should have."
My grandad nodded slowly. "We see that now. Heiress wasn't getting better, and we had to stop pretending that holding on was the same as helping. I'm glad you and she are finding your way to each other. And I'm glad to see you opening the door to Colby too."
"He was waiting on me to be ready. He just needed someone to tell him it was okay to push a little. I think having me so young kept both of them stuck in that same place for a long time. But I told them both the same thing. Show me you're trying and I'll do the same."
"That's all any of us can do," he said.
I nodded and stood with my cigar, heading back to the grill.
We stayed out there until the first cars started arriving. Colby and Heiress pulled up together. By the time I made it back inside, Solana was already awake and standing in the kitchen with Heiress and my grandma, trading her baking secrets like she had known them for years.
She had changed her outfit too. A sundress covered in small pink flowers, stopping just above the knee. I reached for the hem as she walked by and my grandma caught me with the dish towel before my hand made contact. Heiress stood there and watched it happen without lifting a single finger to help me. I made a note of that.
I managed to escape when the doorbell rang.
I looked through the peephole. Juelz was standing on the porch showing off that diamond grill like he was doing me a favor by showing up.
I cracked the door just enough to see around him.
"Y'all can come on in," I said, gesturing to everyone else on the porch. "He stays out front."
Jessa, Aubree, Vinny, and Marissa all cracked up.
"Excuse us," Marissa said, stepping around Juelz with Vinny right behind her.
