I roll my eyes, which makes her smile. “Mom, please don’t worry. I literally grew up in that diner. I know my way around it with my eyes closed. I’ll manage.”
Just before we get inside the car, she hugs me tight.
“Was that Gavin back there?”
I pull back and meet her gaze with a chuckle. “You never miss anything, do you?”
She rolls her eyes playfully as if to say, are you seriously asking me that. “You’re my daughter. I notice everything.”
I take her in. Her skin glows under the midday sun. Her dreadlocks are tied in a low bun, bringing her cheekbones and jawline in stark focus. It hits me all over again how beautiful she is. How blessed I am to have this woman as my mother.
“Sweetheart?” She nudges my shoulder to claim my attention.
“Uh, sorry,” I say, remembering what we were talking about before my mind wandered. “I have no idea what he wanted.”
“Sol swooped in like a gallant prince to the rescue.” Her brows shoot up, and I remember her words during Mass.
“I would’ve easily handled Gavin,” I declare vehemently.
Her eyes fill with pride. “I know. Come on, let’s go home. I’m starving.”
Warmth fills my chest at her words. I love that even though she’s concerned, she trusts me enough to give me space and let me handle my own shit, but I know I can always go to her if I need to talk.
“Mom, hang on a second.” I tug her hand before she can walk farther. She stops and turns to face me. “You know you’ll never lose me, no matter what, yeah?”
Her eyebrows bunch into a frown. “I do.”
I watch her closely when I say, “It’s just that, um, the other day, I overheard you telling Bev you thought you were going to lose me and, well. . .” I leave the sentence hanging, hoping she’ll open up to me.
“I’m sorry for worrying you, sweetheart. I was not myself and”—she takes my hands in hers and laces our fingers together—“let’s just enjoy today. We’ll talk, okay?”
“Okay.” I can’t help the disappointment knotting my stomach. But at the same time, I don’t want to upset her now that she’s doing so much better even though there’s no way I’m going to let this go. “I’ll hold you to that.”
Dread flashes across her face before she pushes it back, nods, and smiles.
After lunch, Mom heads to the diner. Feeling restless, I sprawl on the couch and scroll through the TV channels. Of course, there’s nothing interesting on TV. Before Sol, I was satisfied with being alone. Keeping my own company. But now I need . . . more. I’m practically hemorrhaging desperation as the need to have someone to hang out with burns a hole in my chest.
I grab my phone from the coffee table and scroll through my contacts, pausing when MJ’s name pops on the screen. And before I can talk myself out of it, I tap her name and take a deep breath, then press the phone to my ear.
She answers the call on the fifth ring.
“Hello,” she greets in a tired voice.
“MJ? Grace here.” I pause. When she doesn’t say anything, I clear my throat, feeling nervous all of a sudden. “Did I call at a bad time?”
“Sorry, I’m a little distracted.” In the background, I hear the sharp crackle of an intercom, followed by a woman’s voice paging a doctor. “I’m at Mercy Medical Center visiting my grandmother. I brought her in this morning.”
She sounds completely drained, the complete opposite of the upbeat girl I officially met two weeks ago. I really don’t know her well, but the thought of her at the hospital, most probably on her own worrying about her grandmother, has me shooting up from the couch.
“I could drop by to keep you company, um, and visit your grandmother . . . is it okay?” I squeeze my eyes, hoping I’m not overstepping, and add softly, “That’s what friends do, right?”
She doesn’t answer for a few seconds. I’m about to tell her to forget I offered when she says, “I’d love that. Do me favor? Could you grab me a coffee from Fisher’s Gold? I need my fix. The one at the hospital cafeteria isn’t cutting it.”
I grab my purse and car keys and hurry toward the door. “Sure. How do you want it?”
“Ask the barista for a red eye. I need the extra shot of caffeine.”
“Got it. Please text me her room number. I’ll be there soon.”
“Okay,” she murmurs, sounding relieved.
MJ is sitting in the waiting room area when I arrive. She stands up and dashes in my direction, practically falling into my arms. I lean forward and place the bowl of chicken soup and coffee paper cup on the nearby table, then wrap my arms around her shoulders.
“Thank you for coming,” she says, stepping back and wiping the tears that have sprung in her eyes. “I feel like I’m going to go insane from worrying about her.”
“What happened to your grandmother?”
“Pneumonia. They’ve put her on a ventilator, and it’s fucking scary seeing her like that.” She sniffs. “She’s sleeping now. I needed a break, so I came to sit out here.”
She sits down on one of the black leather couches and motions me over to sit next to her. I do as she asks me, setting my purse on my lap.
“Do your parents know?”
She nods. “Mom will be here this evening.” She glances at me with tired eyes and smiles. “Now that you’re here, please distract me, or I might end up bawling again. I never thought I’d hear from you.”
“I planned to call you at some point—”
“Really?” She laughs. “You looked so overwhelmed after I left your booth that time at the diner.”
I roll my eyes and smile. “I called you today, didn’t I? Where’s your phone?”
She digs it out of her pocket and hands it over. I save my number in her contacts and give it back. “You have my number now. Which reminds me, you didn’t ask for my number in return when you gave me yours.”
She watches me cautiously as she says, “Honestly, I was scared. It took me a lot of guts to approach you. You’re a little intimidating, you know that? Anyway, you never hang out with anyone. You seem nice, and everyone needs a friend. Giving you my number was a way of letting you know I wanted to be your friend, so I left the ball in your court after that.”
I nod to let her know I understand her reasoning and settle deeper into the couch. As I’m sitting next to MJ, the hopeful feeling I felt the other day at the diner returns.
“What do you do for fun?” she asks.
“Well, let’s see. Cliff jumping, origami, swimming, working at the diner—”
She snorts. “You call working at the diner fun?”
“So exciting, right?”
“Yeah.” She rolls her eyes with a laugh. “Anyway, once Grandma feels better, I’ll show you my version of fun.”
“Which is what exactly?”
“Patience, little grasshopper. You’ll see.”
Monday turns to Tuesday, and summer gets hotter and hotter. The diner takes up most of my time and energy, pushing thoughts of Sol and school to the back of my mind for later. Beverly and Mark return from their honeymoon, which is a relief. As soon as Beverly walks in through the diner’s doors on Wednesday morning, she grabs me by the shoulders and gently pushes me out the door, telling me to take the rest of the day off.