A moment of silence crept between us. It was if we each were aware the other had laid a hedge around what we were really thinking. I wasn’t saying everything—and neither was she, I was pretty certain of that.
“So, not to change the subject or anything, but I’m going to need a little assistance getting to the bathroom,” she finally said. “This was a lot easier at the airport when I had a wheelchair. I don’t need you following me in, but I do need some help walking over there.”
“Oh. Sure.” I stood and closed the distance between us, put my arm around her waist, and helped her to her good foot. She leaned into me as she started to hop to the half bath just off the entryway.
“This is ridiculous,” she said as we went. “Brady has crutches from when he injured his knee last year. I think they’re in the garage. Maybe while I’m in the bathroom you can get them. Or get one, rather. With this shoulder, I can’t use both.”
“Okay.”
I waited until I was sure she wasn’t going to topple over inside the bathroom, and then I headed to the garage. There wasn’t that much in there now that the containers had been placed in the backyard. And I was pretty sure crutches weren’t that easy to miss. But I searched every cabinet, rafter, and corner. I didn’t see them.
I’d been gone so long looking for them that when I came inside the house, Liz was making her way back along the wall to the family room by herself. I rushed to help her.
“I didn’t see them,” I said as I eased her back onto the couch.
“Well, maybe they’re in the storage unit. I might have you go over there and see, if you don’t mind.”
The storage unit.
“Do you guys have just the one storage unit?”
“Yes. It’s not far.” Liz raised her leg gingerly to the pillows that were waiting on the couch. “The GPS in my car will take you right to it, and our unit is on the ground floor. You know how to use the GPS, don’t you?”
“I do, actually.”
I thought about asking her if she knew where I might find the photos once I got there, and if she minded my retrieving them as well.
But then I thought of her earlier words, It’s as though he never got over losing her. What if my father had never told Liz about the pictures, had never told her that he’d saved mementoes of his first, late wife? If I brought them up now and she didn’t know anything about them, she wasn’t going to be very pleased with him, nor he with me.
I decided to keep my mouth shut for the time being.
Liz reached into the carry-on bag that was leaning against the leg of the coffee table. She pulled out a slim notepad, wrote something down, and then stretched out her arm. “Here. That’s the address and the gate code.”
I took the notepad from her. “Don’t I need a key or something?”
“You’ve been driving my car this week using the spare key ring, right?”
“Ya. Yes.”
“Then you’ve been carrying the key around since you got here.”
TWENTY-FOUR
I made sure Liz was comfortable and had everything she needed before I left the house for the storage unit. But just as I was pulling the door shut behind me, I heard her calling me back.
I returned to the living room, where I expected her to ask for one more thing she might need before she was on her own. Instead, she had an exasperated expression as she said, “I don’t know what I was thinking, Tyler. Those crutches aren’t at the storage unit. They’re in the attic with the skis and ski poles and the other off-season equipment.”
I stood there, so disappointed. There was no need to go to the storage unit after all. No justification for letting myself in and rooting around until I found my mother’s pictures.
Hiding my dismay, I asked where I would find the access stairs to the attic and then left her. But before retrieving the crutches, I took a moment to slip into my room to collect myself.
I would not be going to the storage unit. The storage unit that held my mother’s pictures. The storage unit who’s key and combination were both in my pocket.
When I came back to the living room, Liz was sitting on the edge of the couch waiting for me.
“Oh, I am so glad you found them. I’m already feeling like a caged animal.”
I set one crutch against the wall and then looked at the other one before handing it to her. “Want me to clean it first?”
“I couldn’t care less about cobwebs right now. I just want to get up off of this couch.”
I helped her to her feet and then slid the crutch under her good arm, thankful for her sake that the injury to her leg was on the opposite side of the one to her shoulder. It still wasn’t easy, but after some difficult maneuvering, she seemed to get the hang of it.
“One leg and one crutch,” she said with a laugh. “Good thing I’m a nurse or I might never have figured this out.”
I smiled, still standing close with my arms outstretched, just in case she might fall.
“What do we have here to eat?” she asked. “Any fruit or veggies or anything?”