Page 91 of Really Truly Yours
Relief blows from my lungs. I chance a peek, my hands finally drying after all the sweat from my subterfuge. What I find jolts me. I’m used to Sydnee looking at me like a puzzle piece that doesn’t fit or, my personal fave, like a coffee stain on her favorite shirt. But this? “What’s that look for?”
Her gaze drops to her lap. “You’ve done so much for Donny. Having you in his life means everything to him.”
I don’t know where this near-fawning appreciation came from. While I’m glad she’s moved on to another subject, I sure don’t deserve her good graces at the moment. I sigh, and out comes raw truth. “I’m doing my best, Sydnee. I had no idea I had so many issues until the day you showed up. And now, with Tripp…”
She nods thoughtfully, watching the first stoplight on our route turn green. “I know. And that’s what makes what you’re doing all the more special.”
Chapter 19
Grayson
Sydnee is finally looking at me like I’m something other than a thorn in her side, a danger zone, or the aforementioned coffee splotch, and I can’t even enjoy the moment. Nice that my longing has been attained in the wake of an under-the-table exchange of a half-dozen hundred-dollar bills.
Of course, I do regret it.
Not. Sydnee needs someone looking after her, smoothing her way, even if she’d deck me for saying so. For real, like, punch my lights out. The prim and proper mode she operates under only minimally disguises the spunk I occasionally glimpse.
But life is tough even when you have people who look after you and adequate resources to function efficiently. So shoot me if I want to make things easier on her. It’s the least I can do. She’s thanking me for what I’m doing for Donny, my father, but my half-hearted efforts pale in comparison to the genuine affection she’s bestowed on a dying man who could do nothing for her.
“Oh, Gray. It’s so pretty.”
I smile at Sydnee, who’s leaning nearly into the windshield for a happy survey of the assisted living community. She’s right, too. The place has been open less than a year. The design is modern and fresh. Real money was poured into landscaping, so rainbows of flowers and lush green fauna curl a bright ribbon around the entire exterior.
She literally beams sunshine. “Donny must be thrilled. I can’t wait to see his face.” She claps her hands together and throws off the seatbelt.
My grin matches hers all the way along the walk leading to his unit. I knock once and am about to use my key when a blue-haired senior lady on a walker clinks past us. “Donny’s in the rec room. I’ll show you the way.”
I drop back so that Sydnee can fall into step alongside the slow-moving woman. She introduces herself as Alice and smiles the entire time she’s telling us about Donny’s hit status at the center. Turns out, being too young to collect social security elevates status around this place.
She enters a code in a keypad and takes us into the main building through a side door. Sydnee’s eyes rove the still new-smelling space. We’re led past a beauty salon, a craft room, and an exercise room. Alice takes us into the recreation hall. The giant vaulted ceiling covers an enormous fireplace at the far end. On one side is a mini stage with a microphone and a karaoke machine. On the other are a half-dozen game tables. Donny is seated at one of them, and no fewer than six ladies, not one a day under seventy-five, swirl around him.
“I brought you some visitors, Donny,” Alice announces. All heads turn as she peels off to find a seat.
“Gray!” Donny’s smile is pure radiation. His bony arm sweeps out. “Look everyone, this is my son.”
A gleeful murmur and a few welcomes rise up. A particularly stylish woman says, “Well, isn’t he adorable?” The woman’s manicured, blue-veined hand brushes my arm.
Don’t make me blush. I dip my chin. Seriously, I’m blushing. The lady is my grandmother’s age. Can anyone say rarrr. Grandma Cougar with claws out.
Donny hauls me into the group, introducing me around. Really, this fawning is laughable. So I get paid money to play a silly game? Big wow, but if it makes him happy, I guess I can deal with a dose of over-the-top attention.
The absurdity makes holding in laughter a chore. My eyes seek Sydnee to share the ludicrous moment. A good eyeroll of disgust should put me in my place and ground me in the quicksand of reality.
Tears shimmer in the eyes of the rock of a woman I’ve come to know. She lingers on the fringes. Not a rocket scientist here, but I got this one figured out. I extricate myself from the feline and wait for a lull in the crazy. “Donny, Sydnee’s here.”
He’s already grinning when I say it. He lifts his arm for a quick wave and carries on, fast resuming his antics with his fan club.
During the next lull, I suggest the plan I formed on the way over, that the three of us watch the playoff game in his apartment on the brand new TV I bought him.
An uneasy feeling forms in my gut. My team has made it another round into the playoffs. I should be there, shoulder or not.
Sorry, too much else needs my attention right now.
“Let’s watch it on the big screen over there.” Donny points his bony finger toward the wall.
I lean next to his ear. “I thought it could be just the three of us.”
His toothy grin is stubborn. “Nah, let’s do it here, right everyone?”