CHAPTER THREE

When Hailey arrived home that night, she sat on her couch and called her mom. “I’ve made arrangements to go to Florida and help until Gramps is feeling better.” Saying it to her mom convinced her even more that it was the right thing to do.

“You have? What about your job?” She could hear the alarm in her mom’s voice.

“I already talked to my boss and he agreed to some time off as long as I maintain my clients.” Of course, he’d given her a time limit, which was stressful, but she couldn’t worry about that right now. She could only concentrate on helping her grandparents and hope the timeline her boss had given her would work.

“Are you sure?”

“And I need some time away. Ever since, you know, the breakup with Kevin, it’s been hard. Really hard. Everywhere I go, I see memories.” She shook her head. “Besides, I haven’t seen Gran and Gramps for a long time. I’d love to spend time with them and soak up some Florida sunshine. I don’t get to the beach much here in Colorado Springs.” She laughed at her own joke.

“As soon as Brit has her baby—”

“No worries, Mom. You take care of Brit and her family. I got this.”

After the phone call, Hailey felt lighter, as if the heavy burden of her failed relationship that she’d carried for the last couple months was released, and she was free to do something else besides wallow. Helping her grandparents would benefit her as much as it would them. She could focus on them and stop thinking about the cheater she’d wanted to marry.

She logged onto her computer and found a flight.

Within twenty-four hours, she’d be in Florida.

***

Hailey boarded the Delta plane at Colorado Springs Airport. The flight to Atlanta, where she had a layover, would take almost three hours, so she rested her head against her seat, trying to reassure herself that planes were perfectly safe. When the engines began to roar, she closed her eyes briefly and said a silent prayer that they’d make it without crashing. If she had her way, she’d never fly anywhere.

Thoughts of Gramps having his stroke suddenly bombarded her mind, and worry wormed its way through her stomach. How would he be when she arrived? Would he know her? Would he ever be able to speak again? What if he had another stroke?

After they’d been in the air ten minutes or so, the middle-aged woman with black hair and large gold hoop earrings that sat next to her said, “I love to fly. Don’t you?”

“Uh, no. Not really.” Who wanted to be in a large, metal object hurtling through the air at five hundred miles an hour, thirty thousand feet above the ground? An object that could plunge to the earth at any given moment and burst into a fiery explosion.

“Where are you going?” Her deep brown eyes seemed to peer into Hailey’s soul.

“To Daytona Beach.”

The curvaceous woman grasped Hailey’s hand in hers. “My name is Salima.”

Hailey resisted the urge to yank her hand out of the woman’s grip. Why is she holding my hand? She’s a little creepy.

“You are worried. Yes?”

Hailey gave a slight nod. Definitely weird.

“You should not be.”

“Okay.” Now that the strange woman had said there was no need to worry, Hailey felt so much better. Except she didn’t. At all.

“You are on your way to your destiny.”

Destiny? Is she for real? “Oh. I am.” Hailey squelched the laugh that rose up in her throat. She didn’t want to be rude, but this lady was a serious whacko.

“I can see the future.” Salima said it with a little too much dramatic flair.

Hailey had met a woman like this once when she was with Gran at a circus. That lady was dressed in a brightly colored flowing skirt and wore a dozen or more gold bracelets. For a dollar, she would tell you your future. Hailey was sure this woman sitting next to her was as nutty as the fortune teller at the circus.

“Many do not believe. But I speak the truth. You go now because you seek to soothe those you love, but in the end,” she pulled Hailey’s hand closer to her and continued, “it will be your heart that receives what it needs.”

Hailey nodded, then eased her hand out of the woman’s. Her heart didn’t need anything except lots of distance from memories of Kevin. “I’m going to help my grandparents. Gramps had a stroke.”

Salima gave a knowing nod. “Ah, yes. The reason for your distress.”

The plane dropped, then felt like it was vibrating. Hailey’s stomach turned upside down. She squeezed her eyes shut because she was far more concerned at the moment that they’d all end up in a heap of twisted metal.

Salima placed her warm, chubby hand on Hailey’s. “No need to worry. It is not your destiny to die in a plane crash. Nor is it mine.”

This woman was peculiar for sure, but somehow her words calmed Hailey in an odd sort of way. She hoped Salima was right. This plane ride couldn’t end fast enough. Hailey wanted to plant her feet back on solid ground ASAP.

Hailey took some deep, cleansing breaths, then pulled out a novel by Rachael Anderson and lost herself in the plight of the characters and the relaxing setting in Hawaii. When some turbulence hit again, she gripped the armrest and closed her eyes, counting backward from one hundred. When she finished, she gulped her soda and skimmed through the magazine in the seat pocket in front of her. This airplane ride was taking far too long. Finally, the plane came to a skittery stop in Atlanta.

“Remember, your destiny awaits you,” Salima offered with confidence.

Hailey nodded. All that awaited her was taking care of her grandparents. And a welcome escape from the heartache in Colorado.

She found a row of chairs near the next gate and pulled out her phone to check her email and skim through Facebook and Instagram.

On the next flight, she didn’t sit by any eccentric people who wanted to tell her fortune—only a lady and her crying baby. As they neared Daytona Beach, Hailey’s nerves tingled. She wasn’t sure what she’d find when she saw Gramps. Last time she’d seen him, he was as lively as ever, telling terrible jokes and making homemade ice cream. He loved to play gin rummy and was the family champ. Thinking about those memories warmed her heart, and she hoped he’d be back to the same old Gramps soon, so they could play cards again.

She refused to think about her grandparents getting older and having strokes and other health issues. As far as she was concerned, they would live forever.

***

Hailey deboarded the plane, grateful to be on the ground again, and walked over to the luggage carousel to collect her bulging suitcase. She wasn’t sure exactly how long she’d be staying, so she’d crammed as much as possible into the bag.

Walking outside the glass doors to the airport, Hailey was hit with a wall of humidity. She wasn’t in the dry air of Colorado anymore—that was for sure. Her skin reacted immediately, and little droplets of perspiration formed at her hairline.

She found a taxi.

“Where can I take you?” the man with a black mustache asked.

Hailey gave him the address to her grandparents’ house.

She hadn’t visited them here in almost four years. Moving to Colorado Springs and trying to get settled in the accounting firm had prevented any travel—something she now regretted.

Palm trees lined the streets, and the bright green grass reminded her she was in an area that received plenty of water. She missed the rugged Rocky Mountains that lined the horizon at home, but welcomed the chance to spend time with Gran and Gramps and maybe even go to the beach.

Before she knew it, the cab arrived at the small, beige house in her grandparents’ retirement community. They’d moved here over ten years ago after Gramps had retired from the police force in Denver where he’d served almost forty years.

“Thanks for the ride.” Hailey gave the driver some cash and retrieved her suitcase.

The front door flung open before Hailey even reached it, and Gran stood there in white polyester pants, a coral blouse, and her dangly earrings, with arms outstretched. Hailey melted into her, inhaling the familiar floral scent.

“Let me look at you.” Gran eyed her up and down. “You need to put on some weight. And your hair is so much longer, and it seems darker, than the last time I saw you. But you still have the same beautiful blue eyes like your daddy. You sure look like him.” Gran gave her another hug. “Come inside and see Grandpa Harry.”

Hailey braced herself to see Gramps as she entered the house. The air conditioner whirred, and there he sat in his brown recliner, dressed in a red shirt that looked too big for him and gray pajama pants. His eyes met hers and he gave a slight smile. She rushed to him and buried her head in his neck. After hugging him, she pulled back and said, “Hi, Gramps.”

He said nothing, but peered at her with his deep blue eyes as if trying to communicate his love. Hailey was relieved to see that he looked basically the same, maybe with a little less wavy gray hair and a few more wrinkles, but she desperately wanted to hear his familiar voice and silly jokes.

“You can put your suitcase in the back bedroom. I have it all ready for you. Then you can have some dinner with us. I made meatloaf,” Gran said with pride. “It’s my special recipe.”

“Thanks.” Hailey noticed that Gran’s hair was whiter and her eyes looked tired, but her smile was still full of warmth and comfort like chicken noodle soup on a cold night.

Hailey took her stuff to the bedroom. The walls were lined with photos that captured her childhood. She laughed at some of the pictures, memories cascading through her mind. Life was much simpler when she was a little girl playing in that kiddie pool or making a face while sitting in a pile of snow.

After a trip to the restroom, Hailey sat at the dinner table. A slice of meatloaf with a hard-boiled egg cooked in the middle of it like an eye stared at her, daring her to eat it. She didn’t have the heart to tell Gran that meatloaf reminded her of dog food. She simply shoveled it into her mouth without thinking about the way it smelled or its lumpy texture.

“Would you like another slice?” Gran asked with a silver spatula in hand.

“Maybe later,” Hailey said, having no desire to eat another bite of meatloaf but also not wanting to hurt Gran’s feelings.

“How about you Harry?” Gran turned to Gramps. “More meatloaf?”

He shook his head and stood. He leaned over, kissed Gran on the cheek and squeezed her shoulder, then slowly walked over to his recliner.

“How is your job?” Gran asked. “Your mom says you work all the time.”

Hailey sipped her cold milk. “I do work a lot, but my job is good.”

“I don’t know how you deal with those numbers all the time. I never had a head for numbers and neither did your father. Must be something you inherited from your mom’s side of the family.” Gran adjusted her purple-framed glasses.

“Numbers make sense to me. I love that they are completely objective and they fit so nicely together. If I make the right computation, everything works out.” She wished relationships were as simple as math calculations.

“But, taxes?” Gran took a sip of her milk. “Makes my head spin thinking about all that.”

“Tax time is pretty busy and stressful, but I also handle accounting for clients all year long. I’ll be keeping up with some accounts while I’m here.”

Gran offered Hailey some watermelon. “How long can you stay?”

Hailey took a slice, the sweet aroma of fresh-cut watermelon tickling her nose. “As long as you need me. I’m sure Mom will come out after the baby is born.”

“I was so relieved when your mother called to tell me. I wasn’t sure how I’d handle all of this on my own.” Gran placed her warm hand atop Hailey’s. “You are such a sweetheart to come help.”

“I love you and Gramps.” Hailey glanced at him across the room. He was watching TV and didn’t seem to notice their lingering conversation at the dinner table.

“I wish I’d known sooner that he’d had a stroke.” A somber expression crossed Gran’s face.

“You did the best you could,” Hailey said, trying to reassure Gran.

“I hope so.” Gran took another sip of her milk. “Your mom tells me that you and Kevin are kaput.”

“Yep.” Hailey used her fingers to sweep some crumbs on the table into a pile.

“He was sure a dashing young man. The two of you made a handsome couple.”

“Yeah.” Hailey didn’t want to rehash the details of her breakup with the man everyone had thought she’d marry. The crater in her heart was still trying to heal. “So what’s on the agenda tomorrow?”

“Harry has a speech therapy appointment. He can’t speak, you know. The doctor says he might regain some of his speech but probably won’t ever talk like he did before.” She shook her head, fear flickering in her eyes.

“The doctor doesn’t know everything. Gramps could speak totally fine again.” Hailey wanted to be optimistic and bolster Gran’s spirits.

“The stroke didn’t seem to affect too much else. It wasn’t a major one, thank goodness. No rhyme or reason with strokes, I suppose. Besides the loss of speech, it seems like his right side is weaker now, though.” Gran glanced over at Gramps.

“Don’t you worry. I’m here now. I’ll make sure he gets to his appointments, practices his therapy, eats enough, and recovers as well as he can.” Hailey was there for Gran as much as she was for Gramps.

Gran smoothed her short hair. “I feel bad about you putting your life on hold for us.”

“Don’t. I love you and want to help. Besides, there isn’t much to my life but work these days. And the gym.” She laughed, but a needle of sadness pricked her heart.

“You don’t have to take care of us twenty-four hours a day, but Harry did all the driving because of my glaucoma. If you can do the driving, that’d be the biggest help.” Gran drank the rest of her milk. “You can shop, go to the beach, have some fun. You can use our car whenever you want. Maybe you’ll meet—”

“Gran, please. I can read your mind,” Hailey said as she sat back against her chair. “I’m not here to meet any men.” Gran needed to squelch her preoccupation with matchmaking, especially when it came to Hailey’s life.

“You never know.” Gran’s eyes lit up. “Lots of my friends have eligible grandsons.”

I can only imagine. “That’s sweet. But I’m taking a vacation from dating—indefinitely. I’m here to focus on you and Gramps. That’s all.” Hailey picked up her plate and stood, hoping Gran would get the hint that her love life wasn’t up for discussion.

Gran stood as well, then took the serving bowl to the sink.

“I can take care of the dishes,” Hailey said. She turned on the water to begin rinsing.

Gran held up her hand. “No, no. I’ll do the dishes. You go in and spend some time with your grandfather. It’ll brighten him up.”

Hailey smiled. “If you’re sure.”

“I am.” Gran nodded and opened the dishwasher. “Go on.”

Hailey walked into the living room and sat on the couch. “Hey, Gramps, what’re you watching?”

He turned and looked at her. He tried to mouth something, but Hailey didn’t catch it. Not wanting to make him feel bad, she said, “Oh, look at that photo.” Hailey stood and reached for a framed picture of herself and Gramps. “I remember when we took that. I came to visit the summer before my senior year, and you took me fishing on that big boat.”

Gramps nodded, a smile stretching across his face. He pointed at the photo and rolled his eyes.

Hailey laughed. “I know, I know. You caught a huge fish that day, but somehow it got away. Sounds fishy to me.” She laughed at her corny joke.

Gramps sat up. He said some garbled words that made no sense, but Hailey knew what he was trying to say.

“Sure, sure. I believe you, Gramps.” She stretched out her hands, holding them about four feet apart. “It was this big.”

He shook his head, held his hands about two feet apart, and then gave her a look as if to chastise her for exaggerating.

“I loved fishing with you that day. We had so much fun.” The memories began to pour in of times they’d spent together.

Gramps raised his eyebrows and pointed outside.

“You want to go fishing again?” She’d love to spend the day fishing with her grandpa, not worrying about anything except trying to catch fish.

He nodded with enthusiasm.

“I’d love to, but I’m not sure we’d convince Gran to let you go right now. You need to recover.” Hailey didn’t want to irritate Gran with talk of going fishing or anything else except Gramps getting better.

He waved his hand dismissively.

“I’m here to help you recuperate, not to go fishing.” She leaned in closer to him. “But I’ll make you a deal.”

Gramps eyed her with eagerness.

In a whisper, she said, “As soon as you’re all better, I promise to take you fishing.”

He stuck out his hand. Hailey took it and they shook.

“You focus on recovering, and I’ll concentrate on finding a great fishing spot for us.” She grinned at the familiar rapport between them.

Gramps nodded and smiled his approval.

“What are you two coming up with in here?” Gran asked in an accusatory tone as she walked in with hands on hips.

Gramps wore an innocent expression.

Hailey said, “Nothing. Just reliving some memories, that’s all.” She tried to sound as innocuous as possible.

“I don’t want the two of you cooking anything up.” Gran wagged her finger. “You hear me, Harry? You need to use all your energy to get better. No big plans to do anything else.”

Hailey suspected her grandmother had eavesdropped. To allay any fears, she said, “Above all else, Gramps and I are both committed to his recovery. Right?” She turned toward Gramps.

He nodded vigorously.

“Good,” Gran said with a flick of her head.

When Gran looked away, Gramps winked at Hailey.

“Your bedding is all freshly washed and there are clean towels in the bathroom.” Gran pointed down the hall.

“Thanks, Gran. I’m excited to spend some time with both of you.” It had been way too long, and Hailey vowed to make visiting her grandparents again a much higher priority.

“We’re both happy to have you here.” Gran sat on the couch and pulled out her knitting. “I think there’s a movie on that one channel, ACM or something like that. Harry, why don’t you find us a nice one, and we can relax.”

“Relaxing sounds nice.” Actually, it sounded heavenly.

“I bet you’re tired from all that traveling,” Gran said while her needles clicked together.

“Exhausted.” Hailey made herself comfy on the couch with Gran.

After watching an old movie about an annoying woman and her pet leopard named Babe, or something like that, Hailey said goodnight and made her way to the pink-themed guest room. It didn’t take long for her to fall asleep.