I’ll be patient and wait a few days to see what happens.
I guess my son takes after me.When he finds the one he wants to keep, he makes sure to lock her down.
ChapterFifty-Two
Hadley
Iask Penelope to watch Tanner so I can go to Honor’s house since her grandma is falling in and out of consciousness.I stop on the way to pick up a care package of items, then I take the train first, then an Uber.
The moment Honor’s childhood home comes into view and the car stops on the side of the street, a rush of memories comes back.
Playing in her yard with all the neighbor kids when I’d sleep over during the summer.
I hated being home and loved being here.Not surprisingly, that hasn’t changed in the years since.
Honor was raised by her grandma, but during our senior year, her grandma was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that spiraled into other illnesses and diagnoses.Honor’s been her caregiver ever since.
I walk up the cracked concrete sidewalk and ring the doorbell, remembering how we’d ding-dong-ditch and how upset her grandma would get at us for interrupting her television time.
Honor opens the door.The first thing I notice is the bags under her eyes.Her hair is thrown into a messy ponytail, and she’s in shorts and a tank top.
“Hey,” I say, stepping through the screen door she’s opened for me.
“You didn’t need to bring anything.”She glances at the basket.
I set it on the floor and draw her into a hug.“Yes, I did.I’m so sorry.”
She hugs me, but not nearly as tightly as she usually does, which says she’s probably sick of hugging everyone who’s been stopping by to say their goodbyes to her grandma.
I would be.
“She’s sleeping.Do you want to go out on the screen porch?”
I pick up the basket.“Sure.”
“I can make us some sandwiches.”
I pull a bag from Hero’s Coffee Bar out of my bag.“No need, I brought food.”
Her shoulders fall, and she stares at me for a long moment.
That familiar guilt hits and rests in my heart that I haven’t kept up with her as much as I should have over the years.Sure, we’d text here and call there, but months would pass when we didn’t talk.She was here, and I was everywhere.
We walk through her house, which hasn’t changed much since our senior year.Although there’s a new couch and recliner, it’s still the same wallpaper and wooden trim on the walls.
We pass her grandma’s room, and Honor stops.I can see she’s sleeping.There’s a nurse in the room with her, and she glances up from her book, smiling at us.
“I’ll just be…” Honor whispers and points in the direction we’re headed.
The nurse nods, and I smile at her.
I follow Honor to the screened-in porch I always loved.I’d love that we could be out here where no bugs could get us as the weather warmed in Chicago.
She shuts the glass door, giving us total privacy, and I place the bag of bagel sandwiches on the table between the chairs.
“How are you?”I touch her leg.
She nods, digging into the bag.“Surprisingly, I’m okay.I mean, it’s so final, but…” She glances toward her grandma’s room that has a window in the back of the house.“I think she’s tired, and I am too.As shitty as that is to say.”
