Page 114 of The Understatement of the Year

“What? Sure you have.”

She gave her chin a little shake. “I let your father off the hook because I liked your company.” Her speech was slow, as if it took more concentration than normal. “Should have forced the issue before now. The longer you avoid each other, the harder it gets.”

Oh, hell. My eyes were getting hot. “I loved living with you.” Wait, I didn’t want that in the past tense. “Iloveit, and I’m spending the summer in Vermont.”

She shook her head again. “Taking care of an old lady is not what you should be doing.”

I yanked the only chair closer to the bed and sat down beside her. “That’s not your call. I like it here. My friends are here. And Graham is going to visit me.” I looked over my shoulder, up into the serious face of my boyfriend, who nodded.

“Your father needs to see you,” she said, clearing her throat. “And I need more care than you can give.”

“So what? We’ll get a part-time nurse. That pantry off the kitchen can become a main-floor bathroom, and you can move into the sewing room. It’s not that tricky.”

Her eyes were soft now. “Your father,” she repeated.

“I’ll visit him. A little. A week or two,” I promised. “I’ll try it. And if it’s awful, Graham’s mom will let me crash at their place. But you’re not throwing me out, Gran. You wouldn’t do that.”

Her eyes teared up. “No, I wouldn’t.”

“So cut it out,” I said, wiping mine.

“All right,” she sniffed.

“You just folded like a bad hand of poker,” I joked.

That earned me an eye roll. “I will throw you out now, though,” she said. “You should be at school.”

“For five more weeks,” I said. “How long are they going to keep you here?” For all my big plans about keeping Gran in her home, I didn’t know if it would actually work.

“There’s a rehab unit I’ll go to,” she said. “Then maybe Gertie’s.”

“Okay,” I said, because I was in over my head.

“School,” she said, squeezing my hand. She looked exhausted now.

“I’ll call tomorrow?”

She smiled at me, and I stood up.

“See you soon, Mrs. Rikker,” Graham said, his hand on the doorknob. “Feel better.”

“Wait,” I said, stopping him. I stepped into Graham’s personal space and wrapped my arms around him. “Thank you for telling off my mother instead of strangling her, like I wanted to. Because now I don’t have to visit you in prison.”

Chuckling, he hugged me back. Right in front of Gran.

Outside the hospital room, my parents and my uncle Alan were standing around looking tense. I pulled Gran’s door shut behind me. “What did the doctor say this morning?” I asked.

My dad cleared his throat. “The anti-clotting medicines are working for her. There will be a lot of recovery time, but they like what they see so far.”

“Good,” I said.

“I’m sticking around for the week, to see her settled into a rehab program,” Alan said.

“We need to put in a bathroom downstairs,” I said.

He smiled. “I’m on it, kid. I’ll call around today, unless you want to steer me to any particular guys?”

“Gertie is the one to ask,” I told him. “She knows all the gossip. And maybe Skippy’s mom.” I glanced at Graham, who was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, and staring down my mom. “We have to get back to Connecticut,” I told the group. Then I grabbed for Graham’s hand and turned toward the elevators. I wouldn’t have minded talking to Alan a bit longer, but I’d reached my breaking point. I couldn’t handle my parents on top of Gran’s stroke. That was just more than I could take.