Page 31 of Beauty and the Beach
“She would be so happy,” Maggie says wistfully, and I let my breath gust out of me.
“She would. So don’t say anything.”
It’s a little past noon when we get to Seaside Oasis, where the receptionist informs us that Nana’s probably still eating lunch down in the cafeteria. We find her there, hunched over a meal of some sort of pasta dish with green beans and jello. She sets down her fork with trembling hands as soon as she sees us.
“My Maggie Moo,” she says, trying to scoot her chair back.
We hurry the rest of the way to her before she can stand.
“Stay sitting, Nana,” Maggie says quickly, wrapping herarms around Nana’s thin frame and hugging her. “We’ll join you and you can finish eating, okay?”
“It’s this pasta today,” Nana mumbles when Maggie has let her go. She picks up her fork and pokes at the meal. “They overdo the noodles.”
“So it’s easier to chew,” Maggie says, sitting in the chair to Nana’s left.
“Hi, Nana,” I say, swooping down and kissing her soft, age-spotted cheek.
“Hi, sweetheart,” she says. She looks back and forth between us once I’ve settled on her right, her smile as wide as I’ve ever seen it. “Both my granddaughters,” she says happily. “Isn’t this a treat. How have you been, Maggie Moo?”
No one has called Maggie that since she was about eight, but Nana always will.
“I’ve been good,” Maggie says, patting Nana’s hand and smiling. “My classes are fine, and I’ve got really good professors.”
Nana Lu blinks owlishly at Maggie from behind her round glasses. “It’s summer, sweetheart. Do you do school in the summer now?”
Maggie bobs her head. “I’m doing the summer term this year. It’s more condensed, so I have one class four days a week instead of two, and the other class I have five days a week.”
“Is that too much?” Nana says, glancing at me and then back at Maggie. “A girl should have time for fun, shouldn’t she?”
“I still have lots of fun,” Maggie says, waving her hand. “I hang out with my friends and that kind of thing.”
“Oh, good,” Nana says with a wobbly nod. “Good. Youshould play sometimes. And what about you, sweetie?” she says, looking at me now. “Did you buy your new shoes?”
I swallow my guilt and smile. “I bought some new shoes just today,” I say. “Maggie came with me. They’re very pretty.”
Nana Lu positively beams.
It takes some prodding to get Nana to eat now that she’s distracted, so we sit with her and remind her to keep taking bites until all her food is gone. My mother doesn’t take after her much, but both she and Nana are picky eaters.
Nana Lu, thankfully, is much warmer than my mother—soft and friendly rather than standoffish and detached. My mom cares, and she loves, but she doesn’t do it openly, and she doesn’t express herself well, if at all. She’s always been that way, even before Trev died.
These moments with Nana, then, are like a warm hug. She wants to know every detail about our lives, and she’s overflowing with love and affection. The afternoon flies by, the three of us laughing and chatting in Nana’s room, until it’s time to get Maggie back to the ferry.
“I’ll come see you again soon,” she promises, giving Nana a hug.
“Oh, yes,” Nana says, patting Maggie’s back. “Please do.”
“I heard a rumor that Presley James has been spotted around here, so I’ll bring some binoculars for spying.”
I turn to her, frowning. “Presley James? The actress?”
“Yep,” Maggie says.
“She’s such a cute girl,” Nana says.
“Around here? Like, on the island?” That’s ridiculous. A giant movie star would never come to Sunset Harbor.
“It’s just what I heard,” Maggie says. “Come on, Nana.”
