“I mean, the lift? Thecommitmentto the lift?”
“Oh my God,” I mumble into the wood. “Please never say the wordliftto me again.”
The phone buzzes again, and the store phone starts to ring at the same time.
Lucy pauses mid-sentence, her head tilting toward the sound.
“That’s your personal one,” she says, eyebrows lifting. “And the shop phone?”
I groan, but push up onto my elbows, reaching blindly for it. “It’s probably nothing.”
“Or,” she says sweetly, “it’s Ty making sure your lips are okay.”
I snort. “They’re fine.”
“Are they?” she presses. “Because from what I saw?—”
“Stop!” I laugh, grabbing the store phone first. I smile automatically as I answer. “Sullivan’s Fine Jewelry…”
“Vivian.”
Larry. The way he says my name. Everything in me comes to a screeching halt.
“What happened?”
There’s background noise. Movement. Beeping and sirens.
“It’s your grandmother,” he says. “She—she had a fall.”
My stomach drops. “What?”
“She tripped getting off the shuttle,” he says quickly, almost breathless, the strain in his voice making my stomach tighten instantly.
I press a hand flat to the counter. “Is she okay?”
“She’s going to be,” he says. “They’re putting a brace on her wrist now. We’re at the hospital, Viv…but there’s more.”
“What do you mean?”
“One of the nurses heard her cough when she arrived in theER, so they did some scans and tests. They think she has pneumonia.”
“Pneumonia?” My eyes rock to Lucy, who is pointing me toward the door. I’m already moving. “I’m coming.”
“I figured,” he says. “I’ll text you which hospital."
I hang up, grabbing my bag, my keys, everything at once, and Lucy steps in front of me and plucks the keys right out of my hand.
“Let me,” she says, turning for the door. “I’ve got this. I’ll lock up.”
“I can’t just?—”
She shakes her head, waving her phone in front of my face. “Uber’s on the way. He’ll be outside in a minute. Go.”
I hesitate. Because leaving feels wrong. Because what if I walk out and something happens to the store and I’m not here to hold it together? What if I’m not the one doing the holding?
But, Grandma needs me. I have to get to her because she will want my support right now.
Lucy pauses, softer now, like she knows exactly where my head just went.
