“Ireland, wait!” I called, remembering the suckers in my pocket.
She turned back in my direction, and I fumbled in my scrubs pants pocket for the suckers. I thrust my hand toward her, presenting them like a bouquet.
“For you and Beck,” I explained.
Her lips quirked up as she closed the distance between us and took two from my hand, her pinky brushing against my skin.
“He’ll love this,” she said. “He gets antsy during these things.”
“Understandably.”
Jillie didn’t invite me to all the care-team meetings for Pops, but I had been to a couple since I’d been here.
Ireland reached out and squeezed my forearm, bringing me back to the present. “Thank you.”
I took a deep breath and glanced at the suckers in her hand. “Blue raspberry or root beer?”
She rolled her lips together as her gaze drifted to my lips, her cheeks flushing the faintest pink. “Blue raspberry.”
I swallowed thickly. “I’ll, ahh… write that down. For my records.”
Her flush deepened, but I only got a few more heartbeats to study it before she nodded and started back down the hallway.
The elevator doors closed behind me, and I glanced over my shoulder at them with a frown, having no idea when my arm had given up and dropped to my side.
I called the elevator again, and when the doors opened, I stepped inside, keeping my gaze on the hallway. Right before Ireland went into the room, she unwrapped her sucker and popped it into her mouth, her eyes flicking in my direction.
A pitiful groan fell from my mouth as the elevator doors closed, and I popped my sucker, the same flavor as hers, back into my mouth and found it more appealing than ever.
Leaning back against the rail, right where she had been, I took a deep breath.
I’ll be damned if it didn’t smell like lavender in here. Like her.
Stepping out onto the first floor, I tossed the blue-stained stick of my sucker into a nearby trash can and held up a nearby wall until Pops, a caretaker, and his physical therapist stepped out into the hallway from the gym.
God, I did not want to do this, but I was out of time.
“Hey, Pops,” I said, walking up to him with as even a gait as I could.
Based on the way his gaze zeroed in on my left foot, I hadn’t done a good job.
“I’m getting a late lunch from the cafeteria. Wanna come?”
His brow furrowed when his eyes met mine. “Okay, Bud.”
The caretaker made a note in her tablet, then left with a wave.
When we entered the cafeteria, I guided us to a quiet table in the corner. Once we’d settled into our chairs, I raked my fingers through my hair, annoyed with myself for not thinking about how I was going to do this.
“Addy,” he said tiredly. “Don’t beat around the bush. What is it?”
“I don’t know how to start,” I admitted.
Sitting beside me right here, Pops seemed smaller than I remembered. Almost fragile. The changes since that day on the mountain had never been more obvious, but I’d been blind to them before now.
I really had to face that this wasn’t just a vacation for him.
And it wasn’t for me either.
