Page 58 of Stitch & Steel
The last doctor visit said more than I let on.
And I knew what I had to do.
So I picked up the phone with hands that didn’t shake from nerves, but from the weight of knowing. “Logan,” I said when he answered, voice gruff like gravel but alert, like always. “Come see me, will you? But make sure Bella’s out of the house. Send her on an errand with that dog of yours. I need to speak with you. Alone.”
He didn’t ask why. Didn’t need to. The man may look like trouble to the untrained eye, but I’d seen the way he looked at my girl—like she was sunrise and salvation wrapped up in a sundress. He respected me enough to come quiet, knocking once before stepping into the kitchen with his hat in his hands.
I poured two mugs of coffee. Sat down.
“Thank you for coming,” I said, motioning to the seat across from me.
He dipped his head. “Always, ma’am.”
I looked him dead in the eye. “I’ve seen a lot of men in my lifetime, Logan. But I’ve only ever seen a handful of ‘em who love like you do. And you—” I paused, letting my voice tremble just a little, “—you love my granddaughter like she was carved from your own ribs.”
He blinked, jaw tightening.
“It’s only been a summer,” I continued. “But time don’t matter when it’s real. Some things are just written.”
He reached into his back pocket and got down on one knee, right there in my kitchen with the old clock ticking and the birds chirping outside like nothing had changed. Like the world hadn’t just cracked wide open.
“I want to marry Bella,” he said, voice hoarse. “If you’ll allow it, I want your blessing, Gran. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
My throat burned. “Only if you give her the heirloom ring.”
He blinked. “The what?”
“The family diamond and emerald ring, mined here in these hills stashed in the back of the closet next to my shotgun shells,” I said, smiling. “Figured if a man was brave enough to look past the bullets, he’d be worthy enough to give it to her.”
He actually choked out a laugh. But then I reached out and grabbed his hand.
“Logan, baby… Alzheimer’s ain’t all the doctors told me. There’s more.”
His smile vanished. His whole face crumpled like paper in a fire.
“Don’t,” I said gently, squeezing his hand. “Don’t you cry for me. Not now. I don’t want Bella to know. I don’t want my last days spent in a sterile room with nurses poking and machineshumming. This place—this cabin—this mountain is my home. It’s where I want to live. And when the time comes, it’s where I want to go.”
Logan wiped at his face. “I’ll hire the best, Gran. Round-the-clock care. Whatever you need. I’m moving in.”
I smiled. “That’s good, ‘cause the day you make Bella your bride, I’m deeding the land and this old cabin to the two of you.”
His eyes widened.
“I want my great-grandbabies raised in fresh mountain air. I want 'em learning to bait a hook before they can write their names. I want them to love this place the way I have, the way Bella does. This mountain gave me the best summer of my life once, a love I never forgot… and it’s giving it back now, through the two of you.”
I placed my hand on his chest. “Promise me, Logan. No matter what happens, you’ll protect her. Give her the life she deserves. And when I’m gone…”
“No,” he said, fierce. “You’re not going anywhere.”
I smiled, even as the tears welled in my eyes. “I’ll be free, baby. I’ll be riding the clouds with my first love, the wind in my hair, the stars lighting the way. My version of heaven.”
Logan knelt there, his head bowed, shaking.
And I felt peace—for the first time in a long while.
Because I knew she’d be loved. Protected. Chosen.
And that’s all a woman like me ever wanted for her granddaughter.
