Thirty
I was never ready for you to leave.
—Nettie’s secret thoughts
Nettie
I was on a high.
We’d won my first game back.
The team was becoming a unit.
I was married to the love of my life.
I had a baby girl who lit up my world.
A job that I loved.
My parents were out of my life.
Gail was dead.
Felicia had moved to California with her mother.
Literally, I couldn’t ask for anything more.
So it only made sense that life knocked me on my ass later that night when I went to check on Margery.
She’d become a staple in our home.
She’d spent the last half a year with us, offering her wisdom and insight. Telling us her life stories and letting Margie get to know her great-grandmother.
So, as I walked into her room with our regular nightcap of hot chocolate and cookies, I was on cloud nine.
But as I got there, Margery’s laser hearing didn’t have her turning her head my way.
I set everything down on the table that separated the two chairs and said, “Margery?”
Margery didn’t look up, and I knew.
I knew that she’d passed without going any closer.
“Boone,” I called shakily.
He entered with Margie asleep on his shoulder, his frown already in place at the sound of my voice.
“What is…” He trailed off as he looked at his grandmother.
His face fell.
We both knew.
“Shit,” he said. “Let me go put her down.”
As he did, I took a seat on the bed and gazed at the woman who’d given me everything in life.
If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have Boone.
