Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 100628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“I’m asking you,” I said quietly, leaning forward to wrap my arms around her waist. “Just leave it be. Okay? If something else happens, we’ll deal with it. Maybe he was just having a bad day.”
“He seemed fine when we got home,” Nana said faintly, her thin arms surprisingly strong as she held me against her. “Like everything was just fine.”
We stayed like that, our arms around each other and lost in our own heads until I realized that I needed to get ready for work. As I pulled away, Nana wiped her face, and I realized she’d been crying the whole time.
“I’m sorry—”
“Don’t you be sorry,” she snapped, cutting me off. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. Not a goddamn thing.”
“Okay,” I replied, jolted by the fury in her tone. In the time we’d been holding on to each other, she’d gone from almost disbelief to pure rage.
“Go take a shower, baby,” she said, pointing. “You need to get to work.”
I nodded and headed to my room for some clean clothes. By the time I was out of the shower, Nana was gone. I knew exactly where she went and my stomach was in knots, but I prayed that Pop wouldn’t do anything while they were at the garage and if he did, one of the men there would step in before anything bad could happen.
I wanted to follow her. Everything inside me ached to go there to make sure that she was okay, but I didn’t. Nana had been dealing with Pop before I was born, and I had to go to work. I only had a few months left before I started school and I needed every penny.
I watched the door and the parking lot all day, but work was uneventful. Going through the motions of setting up the outdoor displays was kind of soothing and the day passed quicker than I’d expected. By the time I got off work, Nana had texted that she loved me and I felt oddly calm.
The anxiety and fear that had dominated the last couple of days was magically gone. I felt nothing. It wasn’t that I thought everything was fixed or that I no longer wondered what Pop could do next. No, I was just ready to meet it head on. Somehow, just telling Nana about it and witnessing her reaction had filled me with purpose. If Pop wanted to start something when I got home, I was ready. I wouldn’t be surprised by it and I wasn’t going to panic. I wasn’t a child anymore, and I had Nana behind me.
I was braced for impact when I walked through the front door, but I wasn’t ready for Pop to come ambling toward me, his arms out, so he could pull me against his chest.
“You know I love you, Bossanova,” he said, kissing the top of my head.
My arms hung limply at my sides for a moment before I wrapped them around his waist, relief flowing through me.
“Yeah, I know,” I said, as he held me.
“I’d never hurt ya on purpose, sweetheart.”
“Okay,” I murmured.
Something felt just a tiny bit off. Something in his tone or the way he held his body or his words, but I couldn’t pinpoint it, so I decided it didn’t matter and I ignored it. I flat out ignored the little voice in the back of my head telling me that something wasn’t right. Because this was Pop and I’d known him for all of my life and he did love me and he’d shown that every single day, and he had always taken care of me and been my safe place. So, I didn’t understand what had happened and I probably never would, but he was apologizing and telling me he loved me and I trusted that the incident had been an anomaly.
I had to go to work at the restaurant that night, but I was able to have dinner at home. Everything felt absolutely normal. Bird complained about some homework assignment that he thought was beneath him and Pop told him that maybe his teacher was trying to teach him some humility. Nana bitched that she hadn’t put enough salt in the stew and made us all add some even though I’d thought it tasted fine before. Pop talked about the old Cadillac that a woman brought into the garage that day, smoking like a chimney from under the hood, and she’d still driven twelve miles because she hadn’t wanted to pay for a tow truck.
I’d spent years ignoring the uneasy feeling in my belly, and I had no problem doing so once again. By the time I left for my night shift, I was in a good mood and calling Rumi to see when he could hang out.
“Would you leave me alone?” he teased as he answered. “Geez, I just saw you.”