Page 32 of A Perfect Pairing
“I’m here, baby. I’m here,” she said, curving a loving hand along his cheek.
Emotion clogged Antonio’s throat, and he had to turn away for a moment to regain control. The tall, strong man who’d taught him how to ride a bicycle at age three now looked like a shell of his former self. Through his conversations with Nate, Antonio learned that their grandfather had wandered off in the middle of the night three times despite the safety precautions they’d put in place and had injured himself in a fall the final time. Neither his grandmother nor his parents had wanted to place Grandpa in a facility, but the concern that something more serious might occur, coupled with the difficulty they’d had in getting Grandpa to take his medication, had left them no choice.
“Look who’s here, honey.” Grandma Nora reached for Antonio’s hand.
“Hey, Grandpa.”
His eyes widened. “An… tonio?”
Antonio crouched down in front of the chair. “Yeah, it’s me, Gramps.”
The older man threw his thin arms around Antonio and broke down crying. “My boy is home,” he repeated over and over.
The emotional outburst caught him off guard, and Antonio almost lost it. Struggling to keep his composure, he held on until his grandfather calmed. Claiming the chair on the other side, he took the tissue Tyson offered and gently wiped his grandfather’s tears, then discreetly swiped at the moisture pooled in his own. He stared into the eyes that mirrored his. “Hey, what’re all the tears for?” he asked, trying to lighten the moment. “And yes, I’m back home for good.”
“Good. Missed you.”
“Same here, Grandpa. I’ll be bringing Grandma to see you as often as I can.”
The older couple shared a smile, then drifted off into their own world.
Not wanting to intrude on their private time, he struck up a conversation with Tyson, inquiring about his grandfather’s health.
“It’s up and down, and like I said earlier, today has been a better day. But don’t be surprised if he doesn’t remember you by the time you leave.”
Never having been around someone with dementia, Antonio didn’t know what to expect. “It can change that fast?”
“Sometimes. He tends to be more alert in the mornings, so you might want to take that into account when you plan your visits.”
“We’ll do that. Thanks.” He asked a few more questions about the types of programs they offered and about the building itself. “You mind if I take a little walk around?”
“Not at all. You’ll have to go back through the lobby because we keep this area locked for patient safety.”
“Okay.” Antonio touched his grandmother’s shoulder. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
She nodded and tuned back in to whatever his grandfather was saying.
As he strolled around the area, he made note of the building’s design. This particular facility had three separate buildings for the different levels of care they offered—independent living, assisted living, and memory care, where his grandfather resided. On the way back to the garden, he snagged a brochure.
Grandma Nora sat with tears glistening in her eyes. Tyson shook his head, letting Antonio know that his grandfather had slipped back. Frederick Hayes Sr. and Nora Hayes had sixty years of marriage under their belts and until now had never slept a night apart. He couldn’t begin to imagine how difficult it was to navigate this new reality and to have to settle for seeing him five or six times a month.
She’d asked Antonio if he could build something in Firefly Lake. With his current schedule, he didn’t think he’d be able to pull it off, but he vowed to get it done… one way or another. And soon.
CHAPTER 13
Saturday, Antonio stepped onto the basketball court at his high school, and a flood of memories engulfed him. He’d spent nearly every day here practicing, sometimes for three or more hours at a time, to be the best he could be at the game. It had paid off when he earned a full scholarship to Syracuse University. But it had also come with a cost—he and Natasha had planned to attend college in LA—her at Long Beach State and him at UCLA. Even though she told him she understood and he couldn’t pass up the opportunity, that had been the first fracture in their relationship. Antonio had honestly, and naively, believed that it would be easy for them to maintain their connection because they loved each other.
He bounced the ball, then sank a jumper. So many times over the years, he’d asked himself if, given the chance, he would do things differently, and he could never say definitively one way or another. The only thing he’d change for sure was not giving up on him and Tasha so easily. He’d even stopped coming home in the summers because he couldn’t handle being around her and seeing all the pitying stares from the townsfolk. Antonio sank another shot.
“Showing off already?”
Antonio chuckled at Gabriel. “Nah. I’m saving all that for showing you up on the court.” During their conversation at dinner, he’d found out they had a mutual love of basketball and had made plans to shoot around sometimes.
Gabriel spread his arms. “Bring it on, my brother.”
“Since you’re a guest onmycourt, I’ll let you go first.” He tossed the ball to Gabriel. “First one to eleven?”
“Bet.” He dribbled, stepped back, and tried to go around Antonio, but Antonio anticipated the move, stole the ball, and dunked it. “Oh, so that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?”
