Page 111 of Freefall

“And Daisy.” He crouches down. “This is my grandmother.”

“Hi, Gram!” Daisy chirps.

“Hello, dear.” She looks back up at Nate. “She looks just like you.”

“Want me to show you how to finger knit?” Daisy asks.

Gram sets her book on the side table. “I would love that.”

Nate clears his throat. “Gram? This is Harper. Daisy’s mother.”

“Harper,” she says as if she’s testing out my name. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Gram.” A blush creeps up my neck. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to assume…”

“Please, child.” She waves her hand dismissively. “I’m not sure I even remember my real name at this point. Gram will do just fine.”

I can’t tell if she’s joking or not until I see the slight twinkle in her eye. She winks, and I give a bright smile in return. “Sounds good.”

“So you’ve heard about me then?” Gram asks as Daisy happily unpacks the yarn she brought in her koala-shaped mini backpack.

“All good things,” I tell her.

“Mm-hmm,” she hums, cutting Nate with a stern look. “How interesting, because I haven’t heard a thing about you.”

“Gram—” Nate starts.

“Anyhoo,” she interrupts him. “That means we have a lot of catching up to do.”

Nate rolls his eyes, but Gram doesn’t miss a beat.

“Nathan Thomas Caldwell,” she scolds. “Do not roll your eyes at me, young man.”

I can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of me. I try and fail to hide it with my hand as the realization hits me. “Oh, my God! That’s it. Your middle name!” I say through my fingers.

“Now you know.”

I throw Nate a self-satisfied smirk and turn to Gram. “I would love to catch up.”

Daisy has already shimmied into the space between Gram and the arm of the chair. She’s also looped several inches of pink yarn around Gram’s fingers in the few minutes we’ve been talking.

I sit down in the chair next to them. “So I want to know all of Nate’s embarrassing stories, but first…” I gesture to the book on the table. “I have to know what you’re reading.”

“Oh,” she says, her cheeks turning the softest shade of pink. “It’s, well…a sort of mystery…my granddaughter gave it to me.”

I glance over at the cover, which features a half-naked masked man.

“I like mysteries too,” I say, winking. “Especially the spicy ones.”

Gram returns my smile, and Nate makes a weird noise in his throat. We spend the rest of the visit talking about everything from the time Nate got lost in the middle of Manhattan, only to be found reading a comic book on the side of the street, to the other mysteries Emory has given her grandmother to read. She also fills me in on all the Marv/Albert drama. Apparently they’ve been fighting over Rosalie, the brunette woman, since she arrived at the center a month ago.

By the time we come up for air, Daisy has knit Gram a new necklace for her glasses, which she promptly switches out. But when I glimpse over at her again, her eyes have lost their earlier sparkle.

“Are you feeling okay, Gram?” I ask.

Her brows crinkle as she looks up at me, then to Nate. “Brian?”

Nate sucks in a slow breath. “No, Gram. It’s me, Nate.”