Pizza My Heart 1 Read online

  “Goddammit, Nana,” I muttered. “Could you picture her taking the stairs like this?”

  “Yes, yes, I can,” Devon said, chuckling. “Looks like Nana just wanted a little adventure. She wasn’t about to be cooped up in here all day long.”

  “She’s the one who sent us on the errand,” I moaned. “Why would she do that if she wanted us to take her out instead?”

  “The beach,” he said suddenly, snapping his fingers. “That’s where we’ll find her.”

  I took off at a dead sprint, Devon on my heels. It made perfect sense. Nana had gushed about the beach scene in his movie, about how gorgeous it was, how badly she’d like to visit it. That’s why we’d come all this way, after all, no matter what Devon’s intentions might’ve been. It was so Nana could see the beach. I just didn’t understand why she didn’t wait for us, for me.

  The path down to the water was treelined and littered with rocks, and I cringed when imagining her braving it by herself. I hoped she’d have accepted someone’s help to navigate down to the beach, but if she’d cruised down the stairs by herself, I wouldn’t put the rest past her.

  “She’s there!” Devon shouted. He stood behind me but taller, able to see through the clearing before I could.

  “Thank God,” I panted, grateful beyond measure that Devon had seen her and been struck by the notion that she was here in the first place. She was going to get an earful from me. This was insane, unacceptable behavior. Nana knew her limitations. It was the whole reason I lived with her and helped her. She needed me. She couldn’t be on her own.

  “Nana!” I called, wading through the sand toward her wheelchair, my sneakers slipping on the surface, forcing me to lope. “You’re in trouble!”

  My relief at finding her was lessened with the understanding that something was very wrong. Her oxygen tank wasn’t mounted on the back of her wheelchair like we usually had it rigged up. I wondered how she even got down here—how long she’d been here, alone on the beach.

  “Nana, you’re grounded,” I told her as I jogged up. “Seriously. We’re going back to Dallas this instant. You scared the hell out of me. You couldn’t have even left a note? We would’ve taken you down to the beach, if you’d just told us you wanted to go.”

  I said all of this, knowing it was still wrong. Knowing that I was talking to myself.

  I knew it was wrong from the way her head lolled, liked she’d gone to sleep, but more permanent.

  I slowed in my approach, ignoring Devon’s attempt to hold me back as I walked around to her side.

  Nana’s eyes were closed, and she was smiling. Her faced was turned upward to the sun that was slowly sinking toward the horizon, but she wasn’t Nana anymore. Her toes were buried in the sand, the waves washing up just shy of them, but her hands were too cold.

  “June, baby, she’s gone,” Devon said gently, putting his hand on the small of my back.

  I couldn’t understand what I was seeing, what I was feeling, as my hands grabbed at hers, squeezing them, trying to rub some warmth back into them, trying to call her back to me.

  This couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t happen. She needed me, and I hadn’t been there. She needed me, and now she was gone.

  I needed her, and now she was gone.

  ~ End of Part One ~

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