Their hands were on the seat between them and he threaded his fingers through hers. She sighed and rocked her feet against the ground, from heel to toe and back, making the swing sway.
“This time tomorrow, you’ll be back in Florida,” he said, and it was just a statement. No hint of how he felt about it or whether he was getting around to saying something else.
“Come to Florida with me.”
Russell locked his knees and stopped the swing. “What?”
“Well, not tomorrow, of course.” Now that she’d made the leap, she wondered if she should have thought a little more about where she’d land. And how much the landing might hurt. “When the hardware store’s closed and you get the property sold, don’t move into senior housing. Pack up your car and come enjoy my company in the warm sun.”
He just kept looking at her, his expression not giving anything away. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to give him a smile. “It was just a thought.”
“When I was a boy, I read a book about the building of the Hoover Dam. I was obsessed with it, really, and if not for the store I might have thought about an engineering degree. I always wanted to see it for myself, but I gave up on that dream a long time ago. Recently, though, I’ve had a snapshot in my head of you, standing in front of Lake Mead, smiling at me. You’re making me dream again, Catherine.”
Russell blurred as tears filled her eyes and she blinked them away. “Then, when you’re ready, you come on down to Florida. We’ll relax on the beach for a little while and then we’ll borrow Martha’s RV and go see the Hoover Dam.”
He leaned forward and kissed her. “I won’t be far behind you.”
“I’ll wait for you.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“For the gazillionth time, Gram, I’m going to be fine.”
And for the gazillionth time, her grandmother gave Emma a very skeptical look. “You just don’t seem like yourself.”
Emma summoned every bit of acting ability she could muster and smiled. “I’m going to miss you, that’s all.”
“It probably won’t be very long until you see me again. Russell thinks it’ll take two or three months to wrap things up. I might fly up and then drive down with him when he’s ready.”
“Maybe you can stop and see a few sights on the way down,” she said, careful to keep the smile bright.
The fact was it hurt a little that Gram had the guts to put her heart and her pride on the line and invite Russell Walker to be a part of her life and Emma didn’t. She’d let Sean walk away without even taking a shot. Probably for the best, though. Judging by the way he’d shut her out at the barbecue, she would have gotten nothing by confessing her feelings except adding humiliation to her pain.
Gram looked at her watch. “I’m going to have to go through security in a few minutes. I hate leaving you alone.”
“I have so much work lined up, I won’t have time to be lonely.”
“You can always call me. And make sure you visit Mary. I know she’d like to see you. And feed you.”
Somehow she doubted that. “I will. And you call me when you get home.”
“I won’t forget. Are you sure you don’t want me to stay longer?”
“And miss the big bingo tournament? You promised Martha you’d be there.”
Gram rested her palm against Emma’s cheek. “You’re more important to me than Martha.”
“And I’m fine.” She covered Gram’s hand with her own. “You’re worrying already and you’re not even on the plane yet.”
“Maybe you should get a fake dog.”
Emma laughed and wrapped her arms around Gram. The laughter turned to a few tears, but everybody cried saying goodbye to loved ones in an airport, so she didn’t feel out of place.
Gram kissed her cheek and gave her one last squeeze before picking up her carry-on bag. “I love you, Emma.”
“I love you, too.” She stood there until she couldn’t see her anymore and then she made the long walk back to her truck.
She took the back roads home instead of the highway since she wasn’t in a rush to get home to her empty house. Nothing waiting for her there but paperwork to catch up on and the echo of her own voice.
Her phone rang as she was unlocking her front door and her thumbs hovered over the buttons as she tried to gauge whether or not she was in the mood to talk to Lisa. She wasn’t, but she hit the talk button anyway just because it was her best friend.
“Did you get Cat off to Florida okay?” Lisa asked.
“She should be in the air right now.”
“Then you should come over tonight for dinner. After the little ones go to bed we can crack open a bottle of wine. Or two.”
It was tempting, if only for the company, but there were enough similarities between Mike and Sean in both looks and mannerisms, that she wasn’t sure she’d make it through the evening. “I think I’m going to throw on some raggedy old sweats and plop myself in front of the TV.”