Eight Years Gone, page 34
Grace stared in horror at Aunt Maggie crumpled at her feet. “Aunt Maggie.” She fell to her knees while Maggie struggled to sit up. “Don’t do that. Don’t move.”
Colton rushed over, pulling the stool out of the way, then knelt as Aunt Maggie sat up on her butt. “Do you want me to call the ambulance?”
Grace nodded. “Yes—”
“No.” Maggie pushed back the sweater sleeve on her right arm, examining her elbow where a large bruise already bloomed. “Do not call the ambulance. I’m fine. I’m clumsy and pissed off.”
Grace held Aunt Maggie’s gaze, studying her crystal-blue eyes, looking for signs of confusion. “Did you hit your head?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“You landed hard on your hip.”
“I’m well aware.” She reached out her hands. “Colton, help me up.”
He looked at Grace.
“Your sister doesn’t make my decisions. Now, help me up, please.”
Colton nodded, gently helping Aunt Maggie to her feet, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “How do you feel?”
“Embarrassed.”
Grace grabbed the stool, moving it for Maggie to sit down. “How’s your hip?”
“Bruised, I’m sure.”
Grace nibbled her lip, deciding if she should risk Aunt Maggie’s wrath and call Asa. “I imagine you don’t want me to drive you home so you can rest.”
Maggie adjusted herself on the seat. “You imagine correctly.” She snatched up the orange ribbon. “I need to finish my arrangement. This damn MS won’t be getting the better of me. Now, all of you get back to work,” she said as she glanced at Amanda standing in the doorway. “I’m not interested in being stared at.”
Grace nodded, glancing at the clock again, choosing not to make the call. Asa would be at the shop soon, anyway. “I’m going to head to the office for a few minutes and get the Instagram post up.”
“That sounds like a good idea. You know I’m not big on fussing.”
“I do.” Grace headed to the back, half closing the office door, leaning her butt against the desk as she covered her face with unsteady hands, taking several deep breaths.
She was doing everything she could to keep Aunt Maggie’s stress down. She’d streamlined the online ordering to make things as efficient as possible for the upcoming holiday season and beyond. They’d even changed some of their vendors for the absolute best quality flowers.
No matter what she did to keep Maggie’s life as relaxed as possible, it wasn’t helping. Aunt Maggie was declining quickly whether there was stress in her life or not.
Taking another deep breath, certain that the tears wouldn’t come, she dropped her hands, jumping when she realized Colton stood in the doorway, staring at her.
“Aunt Maggie seems okay,” he said.
She nodded, knowing he was trying to reassure her. “Yes, she seems to be.”
He stepped farther inside. “She needs a different stool, though. Something safer.”
Grace sighed. If only Colton knew how many times she’d broached the subject with Aunt Maggie. “She does, but she isn’t a big fan of accommodations.”
“I can see that. I wouldn’t like it if I woke up to realize I couldn’t do the things I’d always done. Accommodations are probably pretty confronting.”
She nodded, understanding that Colton’s heart was as big as his attitude had once been. Jessica had done a great job raising a caring, empathetic son. “It doesn’t seem fair, does it?”
He shook his head. “But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t need something safer.”
“If you have any ideas of how we can convince her, I’m all ears.”
“We could make it a gift—like something from you and me. The whole brother and sister thing. She won’t be able to say no.”
Grace narrowed her eyes as she slowly nodded. “That’s pretty sneaky.”
He shrugged. “Sort of.”
She smiled. “I like it.”
He smiled back. “She needs something with a back and armrests or whatever. So she can’t fall backward.”
Colton was right. Because falling sideways had been scary enough. “I’ll look for something tonight. I think we can get away with it if we give it to her at Christmas.”
Colton nodded. “Some lady—Mrs. Ward—wants a custom table arrangement for Thanksgiving.”
Grace rolled her eyes. Mrs. Ward was high-maintenance and always wanted something difficult. “Of course she does.”
“She was saying all these different flower names and showing us pictures from Pinterest. Amanda and I don’t know how to help her with that.”
Grace sighed as she stood, walking down the hall with him. “Let’s go make Mrs. Ward happy.”
Forty-Three
Jagger walked up the driveway, adjusting the paper grocery bag he held in his arm as Colton stood with his head under the hood of his truck. “Car trouble?”
Colton stood straight with the oil dipstick in his hand. “No. I’m just checking my fluid levels before it gets too dark.” He put the dipstick back. “Grace said something about dinner, but she’s in the office working.”
“I’m taking care of dinner tonight.” He gestured to the bag he held. Grace had handled the majority of the cooking since Colton moved in. Whether she knew it or not, it was her night off.
Colton shut the hood. “Did Grace tell you that Aunt Maggie fell today?”
Jagger frowned. “No. We haven’t had much of a chance to talk. Is Aunt Mags okay?”
Colton nodded. “She lost her balance and fell off her stool. Mostly, she got pissed about it. But Grace went to her office after. I think she was trying not to cry.”
Jagger steamed out a breath. “Things are going downhill fast. It’s been pretty tough on Grace. She wants to be able to fix an unfixable situation. Aunt Mags and Asa have been a big support to her. They were there for her and Logan after they lost Rose. They helped her put her life back together after Logan died, and I left like a son of a bitch.”
Colton shook his head. “It was his fault. Steve’s.”
Jagger raised his brow, surprised by the sudden venom in Colton’s voice. But he was even more surprised that Colton seemed to know the story.
“Grace told me about it the other night.”
That was progress. Grace often avoided mentioning the past. If Grace and Colton were talking about the tough stuff, that was good. “Some of it was Steve’s fault, but I never should have walked away.”
“He didn’t give you much of a choice. Anything bad in all our lives seems to circle back to him.”
Jagger shrugged because, to some degree, Colton spoke the truth. But he also knew he would never be able to forgive himself for leaving the way that he had.
Colton shoved his hands in his pockets as he shifted his stance. “We’re gifting Maggie a safer stool—Grace and me.”
“Oh yeah?” Jagger replied, recognizing that Colton wanted to change the subject.
Colton nodded. “Since Aunt Maggie isn’t a fan of accommodations—even when she needs them—I thought it seemed like a good idea.”
Jagger grinned as he nodded. “The whole brother-sister bonding thing. Smart kid.”
Colton shrugged. “Manipulation has its place.”
Jagger laughed. “I guess it does.” He glanced toward the house, eager to get inside to Grace. They hadn’t spent a lot of time together over the last week. “What are you up to tomorrow?”
“Homework.”
“I’m surprising Grace with a special day.” He’d been putting the plan in place between his classes and errands. Since Montana had been a bust, they would give tomorrow a try. “We’ll probably be gone for most of the afternoon.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“You’re pulling dinner duty with me tonight. I called Bea for her spaghetti and meatballs recipe. Grace needs a break. She’s been working her ass off.”
Colton frowned. “Why does she work so hard when she doesn’t have to?”
“You mean because of Steve’s money?”
Colton shrugged.
“Grace has never given a shit about the money. She’s happier making her own way.” The wind gusted as the sun sank closer to the horizon. “I’m going inside. It’s cold out here.”
Colton followed him up the walkway and through the front door. “How does this Bea woman have so many good recipes?”
Jagger set the bag on the entryway table to take off his jacket. “All I can say is she’s a culinary genius. Let’s impress your sister with one of her favorite meals.”
“I can do whatever. But I’m heading out at seven. I’m picking Amanda up. We’re working on our papers together.”
Jagger raised his brow. “And where is this happening?”
“At the library.”
“The library closes at nine. So does most everything else around here. I’m sure I’ll see you shortly after.”
“Yeah. Fine. Whatever. It’s not like we’re parking somewhere and making out. We’re just friends. And Amanda’s watching her little sister in the morning, so she’s not staying out late anyway.”
“Okay. Sounds good.” And it did. He was missing some alone time with Grace.
Three and a half hours later, Grace rested her back against Jagger’s chest as they snuggled on the couch, cozy under a blanket while they watched Netflix in their pajamas.
He wrapped her up closer when she yawned for the third time. “Am I losing you here?”
She shook her head as she turned to meet his gaze. “I refuse to fall asleep before Colton gets home. I want to see how things went on his study date.”
Jagger raised the remote to pause their show. “According to him, he and Amanda are just friends.”
Grace frowned. “I don’t know if I believe that. I got a vibe today at the shop. There was definitely some flirting going on.”
He nodded. “Ditto on the vibe. I saw it myself Wednesday night.”
Grace turned fully now, crisscrossing her legs in the V of his thighs. “I certainly wouldn’t hate it if they decided to date. Amanda’s super smart and kind. She’s an excellent student, and I know she does a lot of volunteer work like her mom. She has a good head on her shoulders, and she’s gorgeous. What’s not to like?”
Jagger nodded. “It seems like it could be good for both of them. I just hope they take things slow when they decide to stop dancing around the ‘we’re just friends’ thing. They’re definitely on different playing fields.”
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged. “Colton’s been around the block. I don’t get the same impression about Amanda.”
Grace’s frown returned. “How do you know?”
He jerked his shoulders again. “About Amanda, I don’t. But Colton had a serious girlfriend for a significant amount of time, and it doesn’t sound like he’s had a ton of supervision over the last couple of years.”
Grace made a sound in her throat as she clearly mulled over what he was saying.
“I just know you and I were serious,” he continued. “We had minimal supervision, and we had sex all the time.”
“This is very true.” She snagged her lip with her teeth. “I’m not sure what we should do. He’s a junior in high school, so he needs a little breathing room. But I also don’t want to give him too much freedom. Yet I also want him to feel respected—like he has a voice in his own life.”
He tucked her hair back behind her ear. “I guess we’ll keep an eye on things. We’ll talk to him about being safe if it seems like that’s a conversation we need to have.”
She nodded as she sighed. “You’re pretty great at this whole sort-of-parenting thing.”
He grinned. “We’re doing the advanced version. We blew past the diapers phase and moved straight into sex.”
“Lucky us,” she said before she yawned again.
He sighed as he studied her tired eyes. “You’re working too hard.”
She shrugged. “It’s a busy time of year with the holidays coming up.”
But it was more than that. As much as Grace was tired, he also knew she was worried. “And Aunt Mags’ fall is messing with you.”
She dropped her gaze, staring at his T-shirt.
He gently nudged at her chin until their eyes met.
Suddenly she blinked back tears. “She’s getting worse so quickly. She really needs the walker and a new stool, but she doesn’t want them, and I completely understand why. Every time she concedes to a new accommodation, she’s giving up another piece of who she used to be.”
He steamed out a breath as he wiped at the tears trailing down her cheeks, hating that this hurt her so much. “Everything about this situation sucks. It’s unfair that this is happening to such a great person.”
She nodded as another tear fell. “It’ll break her heart when she can’t work at the shop anymore.”
“That seems like it’s a ways off.”
She sniffled. “I thought so, too, but the decline is coming full throttle. The last six months have been her worst yet.”
“But things could slow down again, right?”
She shrugged. “I imagine they could. I hope they do. I know she and Asa plan to talk to a new doctor down in Philly after Christmas.”
She wiped at her cheeks herself this time. “But I can’t stop thinking about the inevitable. At some point, she won’t be able to do it anymore. Maybe sooner rather than later. Simplicity has been such a huge part of her life for decades.”
He gently slid his hands from her shoulders to her elbows. “Let’s deal with today. Let’s see what the new doctor has to say next month.”
She nodded, but she pressed her hand to her stomach. “I keep seeing her fall. She just crashed to the floor. It could have been so much worse than a couple of bruises.”
“No broken bones is a win, Grace.”
“That’s true, but it’s bound to happen again. She’s so unstable.”
He settled his forehead against hers. “I’m sorry this is so hard. I’m sorry there isn’t more we can do to make this better.”
“Thank you.” She eased back, swiping at her cheeks for the final time. “Let’s talk about anything but my lack of control over Aunt Maggie’s health.”
He nodded. “How about we talk about tomorrow? I’m going to need a few hours of your time.” The plan had been to surprise her in the morning, but she needed something fun to think about now.
“For what?”
“For a staycation of sorts.”
She wiggled her brow. “I’m intrigued.”
“Good. Montana didn’t go quite as planned, so we’ll give a couple of Preston Valley’s finer locations a shot.”
“Are there any hints about these finer locations?”
“Nope.” He kissed her. “But we can watch more of our show while you try to figure it out.”
She laughed. “Don’t act like you know me.”
He grinned. “I might know you just a little.”
She turned around to settle back against him. “I’m ready.”
He raised the remote, pressing play. “Let the thinking begin.”
Forty-Four
Grace lay with her eyes closed, savoring the soothing music and gentle touch of her massage therapist, while Jagger lay on the table next to hers as they enjoyed their ninety-minute couple’s treatment.
The afternoon had been pure bliss—lunch at her favorite restaurant and now this. Jagger had made the day unforgettably sweet and ultra-relaxing with a blueberry pancake breakfast in bed and a bubble bath.
Debra, the massage therapist, made her final sweeping stroke along Grace’s arm before she stepped back. “That concludes our session today,” she said quietly.
Grace blinked her eyes open.
Debra smiled down at her in the dim light. “How was that?”
“Really nice.”
“Good. I hope you’ll take your time getting up. Feel free to use our bathroom to freshen up.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll step out now.”
Grace smiled as Jagger’s therapist repeated the same spiel to him.
The therapists stepped out together.
Jagger turned his head, looking at her with sleepy eyes and spiky hair. “That was awesome.”
She grinned, finding him irresistible. “Yes, it was. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt so pampered.”
“Maybe we could pay them to come back and do that again.”
She chuckled as she reluctantly sat up, pulling the soft covers back.
Jagger raised his brow as he tracked his gaze down her panty-clad body. “You’re looking pretty slick. Pretty sexy, too.”
She tucked the hair that escaped her ponytail behind her ear. “Thank you.”
He reached out his hand to her. “Why don’t you wander on over this way.”
Her grin returned as she shook her head. “People are having treatments in the next room.”
“We’ll be quiet.”
She laughed. “No, Jagger.”
Getting up, she headed toward the bathroom. Jagger caught her by the wrist before she’d taken two steps.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, fully aroused in his boxers. “You’re slippery.”
She closed her eyes, struggling with a whimper as his mouth moved along her neck and his hands wandered up to slide over her naked breasts. “Jagger, we can’t do this.”
“We don’t have to.” He slipped his hand beneath the elastic of her lacy thong, playing his fingers over her. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything.”
Her breathing came faster with his teasing. “You’re not.”
His fingers moved with firmer pressure. “I’ve had you a lot of different ways, but never after a massage.”
She turned to face him. “We shouldn’t.” But she didn’t stop him when he lifted her to sit on the edge of the massage table, dropped his boxers, pushed her panties to the side, then eased his way into her.
His eyes grew hot as he clenched his jaw and gripped her hips, moving slowly so the table didn’t squeak.
Her breath quaked in and out as she pulled his face closer, capturing his mouth, sliding her tongue against his.
