Page 27 of Sugar Coated Secrets

“I think he would be good for you, Dulce. He seems to like you. You’ve known each other for some time.”

I give her a wry smile. “I know. I felt bad all the times he asked me, but I didn’t want to leave Grandma alone.” It wasn’t the only reason. The truth is, I’m unsure about Danny. He has been there since it happened, and there is no question he is attractive, but I’m afraid to trust anyone. You don’t know how people are underneath; it's only what they end up doing when you least expect it.

“You don’t worry about that. I’ll keep an eye on her while you’re gone. You deserve a night out. He’s been patient with you. There is no doubt about that. You shouldn’t feel guilty about leaving her to have a few hours to yourself.”

He hasn’t seen you running naked with blood and dirt dripping down your body in the middle of the night, screaming at the top of your lungs.

“I know. Thank you, Mary.”

“My pleasure.”

When she closes the door, I walk into my grandmother’s room. I made sure it was repainted, and the floors were redone. I also bought her a new bed with an adjustable frame. It’s the nicest and most updated room in the house because I want her to feel comfortable.

“You’re here,” she says with a pained smile. Her hands are folded over her stomach.

“I am. How are you feeling?”

I look at her weathered hands. Her blue veins are like road maps under her thin skin. There are dark circles under her eyes. She tries to smile, but I know she’s in a great deal of pain. She tries to skip her morphine dose every evening to see me come infrom work. If she takes it, it knocks her out, and it’s like I missed a day speaking with her. I’m glad she took it prom night.

She doesn’t know what happened. In her mind, I went to prom with Ford Keller and had the most magical night.

“Like I’m ready to go out dancing,” she says with a glint in her eyes.

“You want to borrow my heels?” I tease.

“You got those black ones I like?”

“Better, I got the kind with the red soles.”

She laughs, her light brown eyes shimmering with love. Then she grimaces from the pain, causing the light in her eyes to dim. Her life is like a light going out slowly.

I don’t have any heels, but it’s a little game we play. I help her get ready like I’m helping her prepare for a night on the town.

“So who is it this time?” I ask.

“Tonight, I’m going out with Jim Coates,” she says with conviction.

“The owner of the supermarket?” I ask in disbelief. “The old man with the thick gold chain like he got it off the set of an Italian mob flick?”

“He didn’t always look old, Dulce. He was handsome. You should have seen him in his prime. He was smooth and a gentleman with the ladies. He could charm the skirt of any girl back in the day. ”

“Old Jim?” I make a face. “He’s a grouch. Every time I see him, he looks like he got a flat tire coming into work.”

She smiles, but I see something in her eyes—like she’s keeping a big secret. “Wait…how do you know so much about Jim Coates?”

“He kissed me junior prom,” she admits. I can see it in her eyes that she’s telling the truth.

“Where was Grandpa?” I ask, confused.

My grandparents grew up in this town. My mother married her high school sweetheart.

“He went with a girl named Dolores.”

“But I thought?—”

“I met your father in high school, but I wasn’t his girlfriend until the second month of our senior year.”

“How come?” I ask curiously, tugging the blanket off her.

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