“Oh, relax. I’m just enjoying looking at the night sky. And I took one of the golf carts.”
I let out an exasperated sigh. “Grandma, you know you’re not supposed to be driving anymore. Do Mom and Dad even know you’re gone?”
“Golf carts don’t count,” Grandma huffed.
I took that to mean that my parents had no idea she wasn’t asleep in her bed at that moment. I sank into the rocker next to her. “So, what was so important you had to drag your ass out of bed and come all the way over here?”
She shook her head. “I won’t have you sassing me, young man.”
“Sorry, Grandma. Please, tell me what’s wrong.”
“That’s better.” My grandmother was quiet for a few beats with only the noise of the rocker against the wood-planked porch and the night insects breaking the silence. “I’m worried about Taylor.”
I stiffened, pausing the motion of my rocker. “Why?”
“She’s grieving,” my grandmother said, pain in her voice.
“How do you know that?” I hadn’t shared a word of what Austin had told me with anyone, not even my family.
“I’ve been around the block a time or two. I know what grief looks like.”
I reached out, taking my grandmother’s papery hand in my own. She would know. She’d lost a child at a young age, and a husband in her prime. She knew grief better than most. “I’m sorry, Gran.”
“Thank you, hon. But this isn’t about me. I just hurt for her.”
I tipped my rocker back and forth, staring out at the dark fields in front of me. “Her mom died a few months ago.”
My grandma’s face crumpled. “Poor thing.”
“And her dad is a fucking loser who abandoned her.” I sucked in a harsh breath, the cool night air burning my lungs. “She has almost no one.”
“I was worried about that.” Gran paused again. “Someone needs to be there for that girl.” She eyed me meaningfully. “Knock down some of those walls. If she doesn’t let someone in, and soon, those barriers will petrify, and nothing and no one will get through.”
My stomach tightened. “I don’t know if I’m the right—”
“Of course, you are,” my grandmother said, the words forceful and resolute. Her tone softened. “I know you have your own weight to carry, but that’s exactly why you are the perfect person to get through those walls Taylor’s put up.”
I listened to the blades of the rocker as they made contact with the wood planks below. “She’s most likely leaving in a year. Her friends want her to move back to LA. It’s taken me weeks to get her to share even one thing with me. I’m not sure there’s enough time.”
Gran squeezed my hand. “No one knows what the future will hold, Walker. Just be her friend. Don’t let her push you away. Be there when the breakdown happens so you can help turn it into a breakthrough.”
Be her friend. I could do that. I just needed to dull this simmering attraction. As we were around each other longer, it would surely begin to fade. I just had to ignore it until then. “All right, Gran. I’ll do my best.”
“I know you will.” She smiled, her white teeth shining in the moonlight.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. Pulling it out, I grimaced at the screen.
Caitlin:I’m sorry I overreacted. Please answer my calls. We can work this out. We are so good together.
I typed out a reply.
Me:I don’t think there’s anything left to talk about. You’ll find the right guy. It just isn’t me.
I silenced my phone and shoved it back into my pocket. I couldn’t deal with Caitlin tonight on top of everything else.
Grandma eyed me curiously. “Everything okay?”
“Yup. Come on. I’ll drive you home.”
