Hang Tough by Lorelei James

level with you.”
    Her stomach knotted but she forced herself to take the four steps separating them so she could look into his eyes.
    â€œBut I don’t expect you to believe me.”
    â€œWhat makes you say that?”
    â€œIt’ll sound staged. A little too coincidental.”
    â€œTry me.”
    Eventually Tobin gathered his thoughts enough to speak. “My grandma Hale lived close by when I was growing up. My brothers never gave her much thought—behavior they learned from our dad. Bein’ a ranch kid meant after-school chores. Since my brothers had it under control at our place, I went to Grandma’s twice a week to help her out.”
    â€œHow old were you?”
    â€œEight? Ten maybe? Somewhere in that age range. I split logs and filled her wood boxes. Shoveled snow. Dragged in any supplies she needed.” He smiled. “She always fed me. Man, that woman could cook. Course, I never let my brothers know.”
    She laughed softly. “Didn’t want to share?”
    â€œNope. She taught me how to play cribbage. She let me poke around in my granddad’s tackle boxes. She told me stories of her growing-up years as a kid and then as a newlywed. She gave me advice on everything from buying the right fishing bait to showing me how to sew on a button.”
    A funny tickle started in Jade’s belly. “I take it this story doesn’t have a happy ending?”
    Tobin blinked and shook himself out of the memory. “No. When I was thirteen, Dad decided she couldn’t take care of herself anymore and sent her to an old-folks’ home.”
    That tickle in her belly twisted into a knot.
    â€œWhen I found out, I asked my dad how he thought
he
knew so muchabout Grandma’s ability to live on her own when he never spent any time around her.”
    Now it made sense why Tobin had asked her about GG’s relationship with her son.
    â€œDad said he didn’t answer to a snot-nosed kid who could be bribed to look past the truth with a couple dozen cookies.” Tobin scratched his cheek with the beer bottle. “Maybe he had a point. But when I asked why Grandma didn’t just live with us, Dad said he wouldn’t put that burden on Mom.”
    Jade had wondered the same thing, even knowing her mom struggled with her own elderly mother’s care. “What did your grandma do? Did she fight it?”
    Tobin shot her an odd look. “How could she? First of all, stuff like that wasn’t done by ladies her age. Hiring a lawyer would’ve taken a bite out of her meager savings. When I told her I’d go to court and ask to be declared an adult so I could take care of her . . . that was the first time I’d ever seen her cry.” He knocked back another drink of beer.
    â€œDid that change anything?”
    â€œNope. The next time I saw her she lived in Sunny Acres Rest Home. She had one room, which served as her bedroom and her sitting room. At the ranch, she’d used a walker to get around her house. Within four months of living there, she’d become wheelchair-bound.”
    His icy tone had her pulling the afghan more securely around herself.
    â€œI assumed she was easier to take care of if the workers could just plop her in a wheelchair and push her wherever
they
wanted her to go. Even within the first month, she wasn’t the same chatty woman who’d ask about my day at school, which would lead her into a story about her childhood. She’d pat my leg and say, ‘That’s nice, dear,’ and return to watching TV. It got so I couldn’t visit her anymore. It never occurred to me, until years later, that maybe I was the only one who visited her besides my mom. After I stopped . . .” He drained his beer. “She only lasted a year in that place before she died.”
    â€œI’m . . . sorry.”
    Tobin looked at Jade. “Is that really what you want for your grandma?