Until now. Until the lie had finally worn Nate down.
Shifting on the stiff bed, Millie ran a hand through her silver hair; her gnarled knuckles betrayed the age she didn’t feel. Again, she hoped her son changed his mind about Kai knowing the truth. What good would possibly come out of it? Kai would only feel differently about both of his parents and be irreversibly thrust into the life of a complete stranger. A person Millie hadn’t even bothered to check out, even though he lived here in Denver. In her mind, the man was just as guilty of poor morality as Kai’s mother. Kai might not be blood to her, but he was so much more like her son than either of his biological parents. Kai had a habit of making sound decisions. She was very proud of him.
Almost as if on cue, the door opened and her grandson walked through it. She smiled at his exotic beauty and held a hand out for him. He smiled back and walked over to her. Jessica walked in a couple of steps behind him, intently watching his back. Her eyes shifted to the floor when Kai glanced back at her. Millie scrunched her brows. Odd. They almost seemed…embarrassed? Millie was curious for a moment, but then she shrugged and let it go. Who knew what was going on in the minds of young ones, these days?
Kai sat on the edge of the bed and gripped her bony fingers with his warm ones. “Gran, are you feeling okay? Do you need anything?”
Millie laughed and patted his hand. “I’m fine, dear. They’re taking good care of me here. I’ll think they’ll keep me for a few days, just to watch over me.” She grunted in annoyance and rolled her eyes. “It’s completely unnecessary. I could hop on a horse if I needed to. I could swing dance, if I had a good partner.” She patted Kai’s hand and raised an eyebrow at him.
He laughed and rubbed her knuckle with his thumb. “Maybe when you’re better, Gran.”
Jessica laughed softly as she sat in a chair next to the bed. Sounding remorseful, she placed her hand on Millie’s arm and said, “I’m so sorry I was late this morning, Grams.” She shook her head, like she felt personally responsible for Millie’s fall.
Kai seemed apologetic, as well. “Yeah, I’m sorry I didn’t come by sooner. I was running a little slow this morning.” He looked at Jessica oddly and Millie noticed her granddaughter’s face flush with color. Very odd.
Millie glanced between the two of them. “I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m a grown woman. I don’t need the two of you fretting over me, like I’m some invalid. I slipped. Happens every day. Probably happens to the two of you on occasion.” She watched them both grin and roll their eyes, locking gazes with each other before twisting back to look at her. With a slight twist of her thin lips, she added, “I don’t mind you both coming to visit me, but I can take care of myself.”
Kai smiled, then leaned forward and kissed her head. “All right, Gran.”
Jessica sighed as she watched him, then patted Millie’s arm. “Okay, Grams.” Shrugging her shoulders, she asked, “What can we do for you then?”
Millie watched the two cast secret glances when the other wasn’t looking. Not liking the odd feeling she could sense between them, she decided to use their mutual guilt over her accident to her advantage. Hiding her inner smile, she quite seriously said, “Jessica Marie, my dear, why don’t you and Kai go through my place and get rid of that old furniture for me. I was thinking about having the church come take it, but since Kai probably needs some stuff, maybe he could take it for me?”
Kai immediately started shaking his head. “Oh, Gran, no, you don’t have to—”
She cut him off. “Nonsense. You must need something. Do you even have a bed yet?”
Kai’s tan face lost a little color as his eyes locked onto Jessica’s. Millie noticed that odd tension again, but had no idea why they seemed to have it. She hoped that forcing them to spend a little time together would ease the feeling between them. Right now, all Kai had here in Denver was her and Jessica Marie, and he didn’t know it yet, but if Nate’s plans for Kai came to pass, he was going to need the support of his family. And regardless of what their blood said, Kai was family and she would never treat him differently.
Since the two of them had gone deathly quiet, Millie took the silence as an admission that he did need help. Turning her attention to Jessica, she matter-of-factly stated, “Clean out the spare bedroom. I have no need for anything in there right now.”
Jessica, looking even paler than Kai, nodded. “Okay, Grandma.”
Kai looked down and then over at Jessica on the chair. Giving her an odd smile, he shrugged and said, “I guess I could use your help after all.”
(Cut scene #3. This is at the end of chapter 6, after Mason meets Kai for the very first time.)