Page 24 of Bookish Boys Don't Date Social Girls
That wasn’t what I meant to point out, but it’s true, so I keep my mouth shut.
“Lately, I’ve realized…” she pauses and shakes her head. “I’ve realized so many things. Ava has grown into a compassionate person. Against all odds, she’s a caring person.”
I swallow and slam my lips together. But I nod in agreement.
“I didn’t know her dad.” Grandma looks into the living room like we’ll be able to watch the past play out together. “Cora and I were estranged. We’ve always had a…a…tumultuous relationship.”
She rubs her hands together, like she’s washing them, over and over in front of her.
“Well,” she sighs heavily. “I was a bad mom. I was. Cora left home when she was seventeen. Shacked up with her boyfriend. Some guy who was way too old for her.”
This is getting really uncomfortable, and I want to leave, but I can’t imagine excusing myself now.
“That wasn’t Joel’s and Ava’s father, by the way. I don’t know anything about how they met or what their relationship was like. I just know that by the time Cora reached out to me and told me her husband had walked out and she had two young kids, I had recognized my failures as a mother. So, I stepped up.”
She meets my gaze for the first time since she started this story. I don’t know what she sees in my expression, but it seems to make her soften.
“Clearly, that only lasted so long because I haven’t been great for a while now. And Cora and I have made this place a living hell for the kids.”
I nod, because that is one thing I know for sure.
“When Cora got sick, Joel and Ava stepped up to help. They didn’t even pause or think about it, they just did it. Even though she doesn’t deserve it. But Ava...”
She shakes her head and sighs. Her pause draws out longer than I expect, and I wonder if that’s it. If she’s done as suddenly as she began. Then she speaks again.
“Ava has shown a patience and compassion that I don’t recognize, and I’ve wondered if she got it from her father. Because the Lord knows it didn’t come from me or Cora.”
The pain in her eyes makes mine well with tears. A lump forms in my throat that I struggle to swallow around.
Her chin tilts up and a fierce pride kidnaps her expression. She looks like the woman I knew before life dragged her features and her body down. “But it must have been learnedfrom you. You and that little fairy girl have been a huge reason for Ava becoming the young woman she has, you know. If Ava didn’t have your big house and your family and the constant support of good friends, she would be the next generation of me and Cora.”
She looks expectantly at me. I don’t know what she wants from me, and my emotions are hanging on the edge, so I nod.
“Thank you,” she all but whispers. “Thank you for being there when we couldn’t.”
Tears tumble down my cheeks. I step down the final step and throw my arms around the woman. She stiffens at first, but then she returns the hug, patting my back.
“Be off.” Her voice warbles with emotion. “Get those jeans to our girl.”
I nod and scurry out the door.
Chapter Thirteen
“How did it go?”Ava asks as soon as I drive up. “Was Grandma nice?”
“She was fine.” I eye her. “Are you wearing an apron backward?”
“It’s not like I have a coat with me in this eighty-degree weather,” Ava complains. “It was Bek’s idea.”
“That’s brilliant, actually.” I hand the jeans through my open window. “Super cute room, by the way.”
She blinks. “Oh my gosh, you’ve never seen it.”
“Maybe once or twice back in first grade.” I shrug. “I love all the pictures of the three of us. You’ve inspired me. We need a collage space in my room. Will you help me put one together?”
“Absolutely. Are you sure Grandma was okay?” Ava bites her lip.
“Totally.” I’ll never tell her the woman had me in tears. Or at least I won’t tell her today.
