Elijah asked, “What does ‘valid reason’ mean?”
“It means your reasons are important and true. Like, maybe you need a phone in order to communicate things with your parents. This summer is a perfect scenario. While you’re away, you might need to tell them something. You might want to text them ‘I miss you’ or let them know that you’ve discovered a new cereal brand that you like.”
He nodded. “Yeah. And then when I go to Grandpa’s house for the rest of the summer, I could call my mom and dad and even my friends, because it’s boring at Grandpa’s house.”
“Why would you be bored at Grandpa’s?” I asked. “You always have a great time at the house.”
“Not without you,” he stated with a bit of tweenage attitude. “It’s not the same.”
His declaration felt more like an accusation. I tried resurrecting every good memory I imagine he had with my ex-husband. “Really, EJ? You and Grandpa love going out back, setting up the tent, and eating lunch outside.”
“Because you pack the best food.”
“What about the time you two went skating? I sat on the benches and watched. Wasn’t it fun being out there with him?”
“Only because you were smiling and waving at us. Grandpa fussed the whole time.”
Wow.Elijah had a different recollection of his time at “the house” with me and his grandfather. A pound of guilt thunked in my belly because I understood him well now. I’d spent most of my life managing my husband’s relationships with the more passive members of our family, including EJ. I reminded my husband to call our children, EJ, and even my sister-in-law on their birthdays to make him seem caring. Muted him and then paraphrased his often-harsh words to soften the impact. I signed his name on sympathy cards. But now, my grandson was dealing with my ex-husband head-on, and he had come to the same conclusion that had taken me thirty years to reach: He didn’t want to be around that man.
Instinctively, my first thought was to curb Elijah’s thoughts by pointing out his grandfather’s decent qualities. He was dependable. Practical. And he was a really solid baker when he put his mind to it. (He only put his mind to it when I cornered him about not doing his fair share.)
“Your grandpa makes the best cinnamon rolls, you know?”
Elijah muttered, “I know. But he only makes them when Breanne is there.”
“Breanne,” I muttered before thinking. “Who’s Breanne?”
Elijah slapped a hand over his mouth. “Oops. Sorry. I’m not supposed to tell you that Grandpa has a girlfriend.”
My entire torso tingled as though I was having a hot flash. But that couldn’t be because there was no sweat forming on my forehead.A girlfriend?I wasn’t naive enough to think that my husband would remain single after our divorce. But bringing her around our grandchildren? And using poor Elijah in this maniacal plan to impress Breanne, to fool her into thinking that he was the kind of man who voluntarily woke up early and made cinnamon rolls for his family?
Ridiculous. Yet typical.
I sucked my teeth to contain my anger.
Though tempted, I didn’t want to press Elijah for more information, given his slip-up, so I asked an adjacent question. “Who told you not to tell me?”
“My mom.”
“Hmph. Figures.” Terri was still more bitter than Eric about the divorce.
“What figures?” Elijah asked.
“Nothing, honey. Listen, I don’t want to know about your grandpa’s girlfriend, so let’s just act like you never told me that secret, okay?”
“Okay,” he happily agreed and opened his backpack, searching for something.
Everybody knows that children can hold secrets as well as they can hold water in their hands. How old was she, anyway? I didn’t start seeing Breannes on my class roll sheet until the Britney Spears days.
The cellophane unwrapping around a crispy rice bar broughtmy attention back to my grandson. “How about we stop at Mickey D’s and get you a kids’ meal?”
“I eat the grown-up meals now,” he said, looking up at me with all the certainty of a five-star restaurant critic.
No wonder he’d gained a little double chin since I saw him last. “Is that so?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I stopped and got him some adult-size food on the way home. He gobbled it down like a linebacker, and I could only hope that he snatched Eric’s hard-earned food money away with the same gusto.The nerve of him.Introducing my grandson to another woman at the house! We hadn’t been divorced long enough for him to bring someone in to take my place.
