know about this?”
“Not yet.”
“Of course she doesn’t.”
“I called you first.”
Those words stayed with me long after we hung up.
Grandma rarely explained herself.
She certainly didn’t waste energy reassuring people.
Yet something about that phone call felt deliberate.
She wasn’t simply attending a birthday party.
She had decided she needed to be there.
I just didn’t understand why.
Three hours later, a medical transport van pulled into our driveway.
I was standing near the front window when I saw it.
For a few seconds, I honestly couldn’t move.
Bryce walked up behind me.
“No way,” he said.
“I told you she was serious.”
“You said she called. I thought she’d change her mind.”
“Grandma doesn’t change her mind. Other people eventually surrender.”
Bryce gave me a sideways look.
“That explains you.”
I nudged him with my elbow, but I was smiling.
Then the back doors of
