21

COUNTDOWN

It was my day to golf with Poppy, but he had a dental appointment. And as far as I knew, Athena was still getting daily cooking lessons and I wasn’t in the mood to spend all day in anyone’s kitchen, but I didn’t want to stay home, either, so I asked Gam to drop me off at the rink.

There are days when Gam gets quiet. She calls those her moody days, and I thought maybe this was one of them, because she was hardly talking as we drove. But I wondered if it had something to do with Roxanne and what happened in Seattle. Everyone seemed a little different since Mom and I got back.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“Nothing. Everything is fine. Just a lot on my mind.”

“With your online business?”

Gam nodded.

I knew Mom had told her about my trip to Los Angeles, but I decided to talk about it anyway. “I’m leaving on Saturday for Los Angeles with Roxanne.”

“Your mother told me. I expect you’ll have a wonderful time.”

“I hope so. You’re not mad about that, are you?”

She gave me a side glance. “Of course not. I’ll just miss you.”

“Oh, Gam, it’s only a week. I’ll be back before you know it.”

“She’s a very interesting person, isn’t she?”

“Yep, unconventional.”

Gam chuckled. “Not like boring old me.”

So that was it. “You’re not that boring,” I told her. “Plus you’re extremely nice.”

That made her smile. “Not that boring, huh?”

“Most grown-ups are boring, Gam, not just you. Mom is boring, especially when she talks doctor talk. Even Poppy’s boring. I bet even Daisy’ll be boring and Wyatt will be double boring. I mean, he’s already boring.”

“But you probably won’t be boring, right?” Gam asked.

“Probably not,” I replied.

That made her giggle.

When we reached the rink, Gam took my hand in hers and said, “I suppose when you don’t know about the other part of your family, it feels like there’s something missing. Like all of the pieces of the puzzle aren’t there.”

Gam had put my feelings into words.

“Exactly,” I told her.

She squeezed my hand tightly. “I really hope you find those pieces, V. And I especially want you to have a good time.”

“I’m not gone yet,” I reminded her.

“I know, but I just needed to say that. Pick you up at three. Wait inside, promise?”

“Yep,” I said. I kissed her on the cheek, grabbed my skates, and climbed out of the car.