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“You’re welcome.”
She started giggling and looked up at me. “What—a—night.”
“Another one for the books, just like I thought it would be. Are you ready for a cup of coffee?”
“Please. And an icepack for my hoo-hah.”
“Really?”
“No, I’m kidding.”
“I can make one for you.”
“I’ll be fine. Thanks, though.”
After snagging a good morning kiss, I got out of bed and headed to my kitchen. When I returned to my bedroom, Riley had fallen back asleep. I set her coffee on my nightstand and looked down at her, remembering the day we met.
I was at daycare when Riley’s momma walked in with her and Rachel. They were placed in the preschool class with me and five other kids. One of them was my brother.
He and Rachel became instant buddies. Riley and I also did. Our connections continued throughout the years—Jackson and I never having viewed the Martin sisters with romance in mind. But all that changed during Rachel’s sophomore year and Riley’s junior year.
My brother, some of our guy classmates, and I were walking down the hallway on the first day of school when we rounded the corner and saw a cluster of cheerleaders talking and laughing ahead of us. My attention went straight to Riley, and Jackson’s went to Rachel. Then he and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
Later, we discussed how much Riley and Rachel had changed over the summer. They were no longer skinny tomboys. They were beautiful young women with curves that their cheerleader uniforms hugged in all the right ways.
During my conversation with Jackson, he and I decided to pursue the Martin sisters. A few weeks later, they were ours. Still looking down at the eldest one lying in my bed and smiling in her sleep, I was going to do all I could to keep her happy, and hopefully, this time around, she’d let me give her my last name.
“Rhys, thank you so much for bringing me here,” Riley said. We’d just arrived at the nursing home where her grandmother had been for the past two years.
After getting out of my truck, I kept my hand on the small of Riley’s back as we walked toward the building. When we reached her grandma’s room, she took a deep breath, looked up at me, and nodded. Then I opened the door.
Although her grandma was asleep in bed, Riley went over to her and lightly kissed her cheek. After staring at her face for a long moment, she placed the bouquet of daisies we’d gotten for her on the table beside her bed.
Walking over to me, standing next to the window, Riley shrugged. “I wish my grandma was awake. I wanted to see her pretty green eyes.”
“You see them every time you look in the mirror.”
She softly smiled. “We can go now if you want.”
“That’s your call. I’m happy to stay here for as long as you need.”
“Okay. Just a little bit longer.”
She walked back over to her and sat on the edge of her bed, staring at her again. When she started wiping her eyes, I went to stand beside her.
“I know this is hard for you,” I whispered, rubbing her back.
“Alzheimer’s is such a cruel disease. My grandma is right here, yet she’s not. When she passes away, I don’t know what my grandpa is going to do.”
I searched Riley’s eyes, thinking I wouldn’t know what to do after spending a lifetime with her and then losing her.
“What is it, Rhys?”
I shook my head. “Your grandpa will still have you and the rest of your family. He’ll probably lean on you the most since y’all are so close.”
“And I’ll be there for him. Whatever he needs.”
“I know you will.”
