I can see those people needing her around but digging up all the shit I buried so long ago isn’t going to happen.
I didn’t block out my night with Sylvie Davis. It must’ve been mediocre at best, so I just don’t remember it.
There’s a huge difference between those two things.
Chapter 5
Sylvie
“Thank you for doing this.”
My friend stares at me like I’m an alien.
“Stop thanking me. I’d do anything for Big Daddy. You know that.”
My eyes trace the windows in the front of the care facility, trying to get my emotions under control.
“I almost lost him,” I whisper.
Faith places her hand on my arm, giving it a little squeeze before pulling it away. “But you didn’t. He’s getting better.”
“Not quick enough,” I remind her.
“He’s in his late seventies. It’s harder for him to bounce back. I should be the one upset that you’re pimping me out to your grandfather.”
I chuckle at this. “It isn’t exactly pimping. He’s been weaker since getting released from the hospital. His moods are terrible, and he just likes you so much. I figured it would make him feel better to have a different visitor.”
“He loves you.”
“He’s all the family I have left.”
Faith gives me a weak smile. She knows he’s not technically the only family I have left, but I don’t keep in contact with anyone else in the family. I didn’t just move away from Telluride, I escaped.
My grandfather made so many sacrifices for me growing up after my mom left. He never talked bad about his daughter, and not once did I feel like I was missing someone who should’ve been important to me. He attended every softball game, celebrated every birthday, and was the one to encourage me to stay away after graduating from college. He came to see me regularly when I moved to Farmington, afraid I’d fall back into old habits, pick the wrong man if I went back to my hometown.
It wasn’t a hard task leaving or staying gone. I’d wanted to leave town long before I was old enough. It felt too small for my dreams.
“Come on,” Faith urges as she opens her car door. “I haven’t been flirted with since lunch. I need a fix.”
I’m grinning when I step out of the car, but my heart is still heavy as we make our way to the entrance. I know I’m lucky, having had my grandfather as long as I have. So many people don’t even get to meet their grandparents or they lose them at a young age. I’ve been blessed with the years I’ve been given.
I also know he won’t live forever. The chemicals he was subjected to in Vietnam made sure of it. There is no amount of preparations I can make that will make his loss easier.
Faith’s warm hand spans my back as we approach his door, and it gives me the strength to open it without hesitation after a quick knock.
“Hey there, handsome,” Faith says as she walks around me. “I’ve missed you.”
“I bet you tell all the guys that,” Big Daddy says, doing his best to hold his good arm up to give my friend a hug.
“Only the best-looking ones,” my friend teases.
His color is better, and he’s in his wheelchair rather than still in the bed, which is how I’ve seen him each day since he returned from the hospital.
It settles a little of the stress I’ve been feeling.
A quiet knock pushes the door open a little further.
“Are these pretty girls bothering you, Mr. Davis?” Sunshine winks at me as she passes by me with a dinner tray.