Page 7 of Here Comes Santa Paws

“Made me exercise. The bastard.”

I huffed. “You knew that was part of the recovery process. Themostimportant part.”

“Yeah, yeah. But it hurts.”

“No shit. You literally had a hip replaced less than a week ago.”

“Don’t sass me. You wait until it’s your turn.”

I shook my head. “And when it is, I’ll do my PT exercises like I’m supposed to.”

The knot of tension I’d carried all day over how Gramps was doing eased. He always liked giving me shit, and the day he stopped, I would start worrying. Okay, fine, worrying about himmore.

It scared the hell out of me when he told me he needed surgery. Routine procedure or not, it felt big.

“Seriously, how’d it go?” I munched on another slice of pizza.

“PT went fine. The therapist is a bit of a grouch, but I can crack him.”

“I’m sure he’ll need his own therapy by the time your sessions are done.”

He made a sniffing sound. “I was perfectly pleasant.”

“More like perfectly pleased to test every one of his last nerves.”

“I’m in pain, Elias. So much pain.” His exaggerated put-upon tone made me laugh.

I worried though. Despite how hard Gramps tried to hide it, I’d seen the pain etched all over his face when I’d driven him home after surgery and then spent most of the weekend with him. But he was a tough man. I knew that better than anyone. He’d been my personal superhero since he and my grandma had taken me in after my parents died in a car accident. And he’d managed to support me through my tween years when Grams passed away. Gramps had always been my rock and confidant, and it hurt to see evidence of his mortality.

“Well, just try not to be a pain in your physical therapist’s backside.”

Gramps hummed. “Speaking of that, I think he likes men.”

I squawked. “Speaking of that! Ew. No. Gross!” I shared a lot with my grandfather, but my sex life wasnoton the list.

“What? I’ve been around a lot longer than you.”

“Changing the subject now.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. You’re too busy to date. You know, you give me that excuse every year.”

“You eat dinner yet?”

He sighed in defeat. “I reheated a chunk of that casserole Nancy made me. Darn good stuff.”

If he wouldn’t stay with me, at least I knew he wasn’t in too much pain to feed himself. “Did you use that stool I got you?”

“I did. It’s the perfect height to park my keester on while waiting for food to heat up. Thanks, kiddo.”

“No problem. How about I come over tomorrow and cook?”

“Are you sure you have time? I know it’s busy this time of year.”

I tsked. “You think I’m willing to go more than forty-eight hours without putting eyes on you after a major surgery?”

“It’s not a major surgery. It’s a bionic upgrade.”

I laughed. “Get some rest, Bionic Man. See you tomorrow. Call if you need anything, okay? Day or night.”

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