Elizabeth Lee - Storm Warning

Hayden shook his head as they pulled into the parking lot of the tractor supply store. “It’s not…it’s not like that.”

“Son, I was seventeen once. Granted, it was a long time ago. But seventeen is seventeen. And if I remember correctly, it’s always like that.”

AFTER running errands with his granddad for most of the evening, Hayden was starving by the time they got home. He knew his grandma was already in bed, so he only heated up two of the chicken pot pies Ella Jane’s mom had brought.

As the minutes ticked down on the microwave’s timer, he tried not to think about how much time his grandma was spending in bed this summer.

Though his memories weren’t crystal clear, he could still remember that she’d been the one to get up and cook breakfast when he was a kid. And she’d been the one to tuck him in every night. He’d held on to those memories for as long as he could because his parents weren’t like that. And their housekeeper Marisol wasn’t either. The only real love and affection he’d ever received was from his grandma. He smiled at the memory of her being his wingman a few weeks ago. He probably had her to thank for giving him the courage to make a move with Ella Jane.

But his grandma wasn’t the same fiery woman she’d been. Now she was still resting when he left for work and already in bed when he got home. Glancing around the untouched kitchen, he wondered if she’d actually gotten out of bed much since getting out of the hospital.

“None for me,” Pops said, interrupting Hayden’s thoughts as he stepped into the kitchen. “I’m heading on up to check on your grandma then I’m sacking out myself.”

“You sure, Old Timer?” Hayden pulled the pie out of the microwave and set it aside. “A man’s gotta eat, you know.”

His grandfather nodded and forced a smile. “I’m good. I ate earlier. Night, kiddo.”

“Pops?” Hayden called out.

“Yeah?” The old man turned and raised a weary brow.

“Gran’s okay, right? If something was really wrong, you’d tell me—wouldn’t you?”

His granddad paused for a beat but then nodded. “Yeah. It’s nothing to worry about. She just gets tuckered out more easily than us men do.” His weathered mouth attempted a grin but wasn’t successful.

Hayden froze just as he was about to put the extra pie back in the fridge.

A memory that had been lost in the years since surfaced and pulled him back in time.

It’s not anything to worry about, his granddad had told his seven-year-old self. She just gets tuckered out more easily than us men do.

He gripped the counter in an attempt to stay upright. This had happened before. His very last summer in Hope’s Grove.

The pie he’d meant to slide onto the shelf fell to the floor. “No,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper as he remembered. “You lied. You lied back then and you’re lying now.”

Shoving past the old man, Hayden bounded up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He didn’t so much as take a breath until he reached her door.

“Dammit, Hayden,” his granddad called up after him.

Pressing the door open, Hayden nearly lost his power of speech when he saw her. She looked so small and frail in the big bed, surrounded by pink, flowery pillows. She looked peaceful. Too peaceful. More like she was on death’s doorstep than just resting.

A lump rose in his throat as his grandpa appeared behind him. “Let her rest. She needs her rest.”

Whirling around, Hayden glared at his grandpa. “I’m seventeen, not seven,” he hissed out. “How about you tell me the truth now?”

Crooking his finger and gesturing back at the doorway, his grandpa left the room. Hayden followed. Once they were safely in the hallway, his grandfather spoke, keeping his voice even despite the anguish rolling off of him. “Your grandmother has a rare form of dementia, kind of like Alzheimer’s. She gets confused, gets tired easily, and sometimes has no idea who any of us are. Herself included.”

“What? No.” Hayden shook his head. She was the sharpest woman he knew. Always had been. Except…slowly, as if a movie was playing backwards in his head, he started to recall strange things from his childhood. Jumbled pieces of memories that made no sense.

Him and his grandma wandering around in the parking lot at the grocery store, looking for their truck when they’d walked there. Her leaving the oven on one Thanksgiving and setting a green bean casserole on fire. The summer she’d filled a kiddie pool for him and accidentally flooded the whole house. And a few weeks ago when she’d cut herself making pie with Ella Jane and hadn’t even noticed. He and EJ had to bandage up her hand, both of them trying to ask her if she was okay while she gazed at them with a vacant look in her eyes.

“It was just before your eighth birthday when we found out it was more than just forgetfulness. It was a lot for a little kid to handle. And by the time she was on medication and doing okay, you already had plans for the summer.”

“And now? You’re telling me now because—”

“Because doctors aren’t giving her much time. She barely eats. I took her to the ER because she collapsed. They said at this rate she might not make it another month. You’re here this summer because it’s probably her last.”

Emotions Hayden wasn’t familiar with burst through him in rapid succession. Anger. Fear. Sadness. Frustration. Anger again.

“But…” he began, struggling to get the thoughts to form into words. “All these years, why didn’t anyone tell me? I could’ve been coming every summer and helping and I would’ve—”

“Ah,” his grandpa huffed out a breath. “You had summer camp, then lacrosse tournaments, and that study abroad program. You didn’t have time for us old folk.”

Regret nearly choked him. His parents had asked a few times if he wanted to visit Gran and Pops but he blew it off year after year. He just wanted to be with his friends. Friends that couldn’t give a shit about him really. But he’d chosen them over the woman who loved him more than anyone ever had. Because he was a selfish dick.

“I don’t…I didn’t know,” was all he could say for himself. But deep down he wondered if he would’ve come even if he had known. “So they’re just doing nothing? Can’t she stay in the hospital? They could feed her through a tube or something.”

His grandpa shook his head. “What kind of life does that sound like to you, son?”

“But she can’t…she can’t just…” She can’t just die, he wanted to say but couldn’t bring himself to. “There’s got to be some type of medicine or therapy or something…”

“Hogwash,” his grandpa growled. “Your Gran and me don’t trust those kooks as far as we can throw them. This is life, son. We’ve had a long, happy life together, and that’s how we’ll go. Together. In this house. Our home.”

Hayden stood there, across from the toughest man he knew as the old man’s eyes filled with tears. But the hardened war vet didn’t allow a single one of them to fall.

“You being here this summer meant a lot to her. Don’t go ruining the rest of it by acting all sappy around her. You know nothing, you hear me?”

“Y-yes. Yes, sir,” Hayden choked out. “What about the end-of-summer thing? Surely we’re not still doing that.”

Every year he’d been allowed to throw a party on some of his grandparents’ land. A huge field that straddled the line between Hope’s Grove and Summit Bluffs. Even though he hadn’t had anything to do with them, they’d still let him have his back-to-school bonfire on their property.

Some of his buddies from back home had already been texting him about it. He’d actually been looking forward to taking Ella Jane, but now a party was the last thing he wanted.

“Yes we are still doing that. I meant what I said. Your gran would be pissed if we started fussing over her. She nearly tanned my hide for taking her to the hospital last week.” The old man got a faraway look in his eyes. But then he snapped back to the present and pinned Hayden with his I-mean-business stare. “You do your thing, business as usual. And don’t go running and telling the Mason girl—or anyone else for that matter. It would break her heart if she knew people knew and were pitying her. You break her heart and I’ll break your neck. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Hayden answered as he ambled off to his room.

That night he lay awake in bed thinking of all the ways he’d failed his grandparents over the years. All the summers he’d filled with asinine bullcrap instead of being with them. Maybe if he’d helped out more…but he didn’t know for sure if it would’ve made any difference.

In two weeks he’d just go back home and desert his grandma again. And a beautiful blue-eyed blonde he couldn’t stand to think of leaving. But what choice did he have? It felt like everyone had been making decisions for him his whole life. Where he went, what he did, how much he did or didn’t know. He had no idea how to get control of the runaway train that had become his life.

“I cannot wait to hear all about St. Tropez,” Raquel, Cami’s friend, excitedly gushed through the phone receiver. “This summer has sucked without you.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” Cami replied, rolling her eyes. She knew exactly what Raquel meant when she’d said the summer had sucked without her.

Cami was sure Raquel was dying to know what Cami was doing. That was kind of her thing. They may have acted like best friends, but frenemies was probably a more accurate term. Sure, they loved shopping, talking about boys, and doing all of the superficial things friends did together, but she wouldn’t have trusted Raquel with her goldfish—if she had one, that was—much less with any of her actual secrets. Add all of that to the fact that Raquel was Cami’s number one competition in all things pageant and it was pretty much guaranteed that their relationship would never be classified as solid.