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I picked at my thumbnail as I nodded. “I’m looking for Cordelia Jones. I can’t remember what her room number is.”
“She just moved in, right?”
I nodded.
“She’s in the room on the right at the end of the hall. Just walk down that way and take the second hallway.”
Great. She smiled at me and continued the opposite way. I walked down the tile hallway, breathing in the disinfectant smell. But they also had some type of cinnamon air fresheners going, so it wasn’t as harsh as a hospital smell. As I walked farther down the hall, I saw a big room on the left. Half of it was filled with dining tables. A few women sat around a table playing cards.
My eyebrows drew together. “Grandma?” I called. “Is that you?”
Grandma perked her head up, looking over her cards and grinned at me. “Henrietta! What are you doing here?” As I walked toward the ladies, Grandma said, “This is my favorite granddaughter, Henrietta.”
The women greeted me, complimenting me profusely and making me feel like a million bucks.
“You’re too sweet,” I said. “What are you playing?”
Grandma held up the backs of her cards. “Skip-Bo.”
“She’s a natural,” the white-haired lady on her left said.
Batting her hand, Grandma said, “Beginner’s luck. But you’ll have to excuse me. I need to show my granddaughter around!”
The women waved at her, and Grandma stacked her cards for them, putting them at the bottom of the draw pile. I got behind Grandma’s wheelchair, backing her from the table and pulling her away.
“Go this way,” she said, pointing toward the rec area. “They have a TV over here, and then there’s an instructor that comes in and does aerobics once a day. My physical therapist came in this morning and said I can do all the exercises sitting down until I get stronger.”
My throat felt tight, seeing it all. One day here, and Grandma already had friends her age. A place to go work out. A routine.
“Wait until you see the salon,” she said with a wink.
“There’s more?” I asked.
She directed me down a hall that had a small salon, including chairs where they could get pedicures if they made appointments. Then she showed me the back courtyard with a small community flower garden and a heated pool with sparkling blue water.
“Some people do water therapy,” she explained. “I should be able to start that here in a few weeks.”
I fought happy tears for her as we walked to her room. It was small inside, but my parents had set her framed photos on the dresser and nightstand, and even hung some on the walls. There was a big window out to the street so she could get sunshine. And she had her own bathroom and mini fridge.
“What do you think?” she asked.
“It’s incredible,” I said, sitting on the chair across from her. And I meant it. It wasn’t perfect, by any means, but so much better than what I had feared. “Grandma, you’re so brave.”
“What do you mean?”
I looked around her new home. “You’re on your own now, in your own place, meeting all new people, even after all the bad things people say about places like this. It’s so brave.”
She tilted her head, smiling softly. “You’d be surprised how brave you can be for the people you love.”
I wished with all my heart I had been braver for Tyler. Brave enough to trust my family to take care of my grandma. Brave enough to let go of my safety net and build a life with the man I loved. Brave enough to ask for what I really wanted and let him give it to me.
Grandma asked, “Did you come all this way over your lunch break just to check on me?”
I bit my lip. “Actually...I quit my job.”
Her face lit up with a smile, and she patted her hands happily on her lap. “Baby girl, that’s huge! Congratulations!”
“Thank you.” I couldn’t help the smile I wore. It had felt so freaking good to stick it to Janessa and tell her what I truly thought.