She blinked twice, taking a moment to process my request.“Sure, okay.”She took my phone and sent herself a message before handing it back.“Now I have your number, too.”
The knot in my stomach eased.“Good thinking.I’d hate it if you lumped me in with all the other guys who message you.”
She laughed.“Yeah, right.”
“Guess I’ll talk to you later, then,” I said, heading out onto the sidewalk.I gave her a quick wave and headed down the street as she locked up behind me.
That went well, all things considered.At least there was no sign of the mood Sierra had warned me about.
twenty
Nana knows best
Maya
IleftLiamonthe sidewalk outside the store and made a beeline for my apartment, careful not to jostle my tender stomach as I climbed the stairs.
Drinking like I did last night was almost as out of character as walking out on my two best friends.Finding out that they neglected their families was such a shock to my system that I needed some time to think it over.Could they be right?Did people really get too busy to visit sometimes?
I’d always believed that not visiting family made you neglectful.But … what if I were wrong?
I needed to talk to Nana.She’d know what to say.
But first,I need to shower,I thought, catching a whiff of myself.I smell so bad I’m offending myself.
I spent the entire shower alternating between trying not to throw up and berating myself for being such a hateful bitch.I am a terrible person.No!A giant asshole.No!A skid mark in the underpants of friendship.The self-flagellation continued long after my shower.
What could Nana even say?I’d ditched my best friends because I thought they didn’t visit their grandmothers enough—like I was an expert?I’d never even met any of my grandparents, so it’s not like I knew what I was talking about.
“Hey, Nana,” I whispered when I finally worked up the courage to take my cowardly ass to her apartment.“Do you have a minute?”
“Maya, what a lovely surprise.”Nana set her book aside and beamed at me.“You rarely come to visit this early.What’s going on, dear?Is everything okay?”
That was one of the reasons I loved Nana.She always knew when something was bothering me, without my having to say anything.Of course, there’s a good chance it was the sour look on my face that gave me away every time.I didn’t have a particularly good poker face, or so Nana and her friends told me every time I tried to play cards with them.
Without preamble, I blurted, “Nana, doesn’t it bother you that Liam didn’t visit you for three years?”
Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline.“Well, that’s certainly not what I was expecting you to say,” she said with a chuckle.“I thought maybe you wanted to talk about your parents’ phone calls.”
“My parents?What?No.”
“Oh, my mistake.Never mind that, then.”She waved a hand as if it were nothing—how had she known they’d called?—but I let it go.For now.“Why do you want to know about Liam’s visits?”
“Because it pisses me off, Nana.He didn’t visit foryears.He should appreciate you more.Family is everything.”I wrung my hands hard enough to pull the skin, nearly causing a friction burn.“Then he shows up one day, and you act like it doesn’t matter.Like it’sokaythat he didn’t visit you.How can you stand to look at him after he ignored you for so long?Why would you want to?”
Nana pulled me into a tight hug, her chin resting on my head.“Oh, honey.Liam’s a grown man.”Her voice soothed some of the ache in my heart.“He wasn’t ignoring me, or avoiding me, or abandoning me.He was working, building his life—trying to become the person he thought he had to be.He was making his own way.And besides, we still spoke on the phone all the time.It’s not as though he just disappeared.”
Tears stung my eyes, and I sniffed hard, determined not to let them fall on Nana’s sweater.“I could never be that forgiving.If it were my parents showing up here trying to act like nothing happened, I don’t know how I would react, but I sure wouldn’t be offering forgiveness and understanding.”
Nana’s chuckle rumbled through her chest.“Well, that’s a different story altogether.”She leaned back and gave me a knowing look.“Your parents are idiots.”
“Idiots might be too kind a word.”
“I was being polite.Didn’t want to offend your delicate sensibilities by calling them assholes.”
I snorted a laugh.“Assholes works.I’ve called them worse.”
“Me too, dear.Me too.”
