And with that, I thought of my family, who meant so much to me. My dad, Bryce, Maisie, and…
“Peggy, do you have Instagram?” I asked.
“Oh no, I don’t.” She laughed lightly. “Sage keeps offering to download it for me, but it sounds like there is a learning curve.”
“Well, I think you should take Sage up on her offer, so you can follow Erica,” I said. “Her feed is gorgeous. Annie always loved looking at it with me, and I know you’ll love it too.”
Peggy was quiet, contemplative. “How is she doing, if you don’t mind me asking?” she asked after a beat. “Your grandmother?”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “I don’t want to dampen the mood of your big day.”
“Please.” I imagined her waving a hand. “I got seasick on the boat this morning, and Jay spilled his beer on me at lunch. And the kiddies asked to give Posey a bath this afternoon and ended up dyeing her green. The day can only go up from here.”
I couldn’t help it; I tilted my head back and laughed.
* * *
My eyes were puffy from tears as I headed back to Annie’s room, but talking to Peggy about her had been cathartic. She was a good listener.
She also said she’d speak to Sage about creating an Instagram profile.
It was a step in the right direction.
I nearly ran into Tara; she was exiting another resident’s room and brightened when we made eye contact. “There you are!”
“Here I am…”
“I’ve been looking for you,” she said, unable to contain her excitement. “Annette has a visitor!”
“Oh, my dad?”
The nurse shook her head, and my pulse sped up. Had one of Annie’s old friends woken up and finally realized they owed her a visit? That, after being the world’s greatest friend for forever, shedeserveda visit?
I couldn’t wait to see who it was and give them a piece of my mind.
But when I marched into Annie’s room, I ended up swallowing my words. Because it wasn’t one of Annie’s golf buddies, or old neighbors, or a longtime rival from her bridge club.
It was Christian Fox.
Twenty-six
He wore a green visitor’s badge and sat at the edge of Annie’s throne, paging through herGolden Hour Girlsbook, but he looked up at the sound of my steps. The book snapped shut. “Olivia,” he said, rising from the chair and clearing his throat. “Hello.”
“Hi.” I tried to keep the mood light. “You forgive me then?”
Christian tilted his head, not quite following.
“For standing you up for lunch?”
He chuckled. “It’s been years since I’ve been stood up, so my ego was a little bruised, but of course I do. Erica called and explained what happened…” He drifted off to glance at Annie, who stirred but stayed sleeping. “Which is how I ended up here.”
Why didn’t Erica warn me?I wondered.
“She didn’t know I was coming,” he clarified. “She only gave me the details.” He rubbed his forehead. “I can’t believe I didn’t know.”
“Why would you?” I asked, and I gestured for him to sit back down. I perched at the foot of Annie’s bed, careful not to crush her toes. “How long as it been since you’ve spoken?”
“Averylong time,” Christian answered. “We ran into eachother at JFK airport once; it had to be ten or twelve years ago. I was flying out to Amsterdam, and she had just deplaned from…”
