Page 16 of The Best Christmas Choir Ever

“Did that fall scare her more than she’s letting on?”

“Maybe,” Charlie agreed. “I’m just glad she didn’t actually break her hip. I think it would have made the move that much worse.”

“It’s a big shift either way,” Alicia agreed. “Going from that massive house to a tiny apartment.”

“Going from being completely independent to…” Charlie hummed. “I mean, she’s still very independent, and there’s plenty to explore at Glendale.”

“But she’s recovering okay?”

“Yeah. Apparently they have some yoga class they like to take the residents to, so knowing Gram, she’ll be more flexible than I am in a month.”

Alicia laughed, the sound making Charlie smile. “I wouldn’t put it past her. You got everything moved over?”

“The piano made it.”

“Priority number one,” Alicia said. “The rest of it?”

Charlie rubbed her hand over her face. “God, there’s so much. Every time I put something in a box, a new stack of crap appears.”

“Take it one section at a time,” Alicia suggested. “And take breaks so you don’t get overwhelmed.”

The corner of Charlie’s mouth quirked.

“So, what’s the actual problem then?”

“Hmm?”

“That was an awfully heavy sigh.”

“Okay, listen to this,” Charlie said.

Alicia chuckled. “I like when your stories start like that.”

“Gram is giving me a tour of Glendale a couple days ago, right? Because the movers have to do their thing.”

“Sure.”

“And there’s this really lovely woman showing us around and introducing Gram to all these people, and so she wants to introduce us to the activities director as we pass his office.”

“That’s great.”

“That’s what I thought, too. Especially because I scoped out the website, and I realized that I know this activities director from my college days. So my first thought is oh, Gram’ll have a familiar face around.”

“Know him how?” Alicia asked.

“We dated about eight years ago. No, er, not dated. We flinged.”

“Flung?” Alicia snorted.

“Sure. We had a fling-thing for the summer.”

Charlie could tell Alicia was grinning as she asked, “How awkward was that?”

“The epitome of awkwardness!” Charlie all but yelled. “Mostly because he acted like he barely remembered me!”

“Oh.”

“Like I know it’s been a solid few years or whatever, but I very clearly remembered him. And he straight up said that maybe he had a vague recollection of me. Vague, Alicia! He used the word vague.”