by Hadley Quinn
“Oh pssh, I feel ten times better now that my family is here,” she waved him away. “Quit raining on my parade.”
The doctor smile, but Tate said, “Gram, let’s listen to him for now, okay? You suffered a heart attack after you arrived here and you need some quiet time.”
She sighed, but Kellie could tell she was pretty weak. Sharing some short stories with them had probably drained her quite a bit.
Kellie stood from the bed but gave Gram a kiss on the cheek. “We’ll come by in the morning, okay?”
“I’m pissed you two cut your trip short,” she chastised Tate, pointing her finger at him. “You didn’t need to do that.”
“Yes we did,” Kellie told her, giving her a gentle hug.
Rayne leaned over and gave them both a hug at the same time, and when the huddle separated, Gram motioned to Tate that it was his turn.
He leaned down and squeezed her gently, just as Gram said, “You two need to quit pussyfooting around it and get hitched. Don’t make me waste my last breaths telling you something you already know.”
“Gram, jeez,” Rayne lightly laughed, glancing between Tate and Kellie.
“You know your grandfather and I eloped,” she reminded them with a smile. “Ran off so no one could butt into our business and tell us we were too young.”
Tate chuckled as he took Kellie’s hand, but he leaned down and whispered something in Gram’s ear before he kissed her goodbye. Her mouth curved into a significant smile.
“We’ll see you in the morning,” Kellie said. She waved as they left the room, leaving behind a Gram that still had a huge smile spread across her face.
As they walked to the parking lot, she didn’t even think about a ride home. But there was the four-door Lexus that Max had picked them up in, still sitting across the street. He was inside finishing up a phone call when they opened the back door.
He quickly hung up. “How is she?”
Tate and Kellie slid into the back seat behind him, and Max turned his body to face them better.
“She’s doing a bit better than before,” Tate answered. “Her doctor was pretty surprised she bounced back so quickly—being so alert and talkative—but she suffered a mild heart attack that took a toll on her pretty quickly…” He rubbed his face roughly and Kellie knew he was completely exhausted.
She nodded for Max to take them to Tate’s house, and once they arrived, she watched him climb on the bed carefully and lie down. She knew he was in a lot of pain, but any offer of something to help—more ibuprofen, a hot bath, ice, a massage—was met with a shake of his head.
“I just need to lay here for a bit,” he said quietly. “But I need you here too.” He patted the bed next to him, so Kellie closed up the house for the night and stretched out beside him.
“I love you,” she whispered as she cuddled up to him. She kissed him on the lips and added, “Thank you for such an amazing week. You know every minute of it was worth it, and it was even worth it to come home early to see Gram.”
He nodded and slid his arm around her to hold her closer. “It will forever be worth it,” he smiled knowingly. “Never a single regret. I love you, too.”
She closed her eyes and fell asleep to those words. Definitely a tumultuous shift in events, but worth it.
Kellie wasn’t sure how long she’d been asleep, but she felt an abrupt jolt against her body. It took her a minute to become coherent; she thought maybe Tate had another nightmare, so she was reaching for him in the dark.
He wasn’t there.
“Tate?” she called out.
“I’m right here,” she heard his soft, deep voice from the corner.
She scurried to the edge of the bed to flip on the lamp, shielding her eyes until they adjusted to the light. Tate was sitting on the floor against the wall, his knees up with his arms resting on them. Her first thought was that it couldn’t be very comfortable for his hip to be sitting like that, but then she picked up an uneasy vibe in the room.
She climbed off the bed and knelt in front of him. Something was wrong. Did he have a nightmare? Was he having severe anxiety and couldn’t sleep?
“Baby, what’s going on?” she asked softly. She rubbed her hand along his forearm but he was staring across the room. “Tate?” she whispered.
He finally looked at her and swallowed. She hadn’t even realized he had his phone in his hand until he barely lifted it and said, “The hospital called. She didn’t make it.”
Kellie’s heart dropped to the deepest pit of her stomach. “No,” she barely spoke, putting her hand to her mouth so she didn’t cry out loud. Tears immediately came down her face as she continued to watch Tate for his reaction. She could tell that he’d already been crying, but right now his eyes were completely dry. “I’m so sorry, honey,” she said, scooting close to him.
She linked her arm through his and laid her head against his shoulder as she sat against the wall with him. They sat there for a few minutes, both in just their underwear, sharing a quiet moment of mourning.
Finally Tate stood, very gingerly and very visibly in a lot of pain, and held out his hand to help her up. “I need to head in there and see her before they have her body taken to the morgue. I just needed a few minutes to process everything.”
He didn’t need to explain a damn thing. Kellie’s own thoughts were all over the place, including the one thing she feared while they were flying home to see Gram. If Gram hadn’t made it before they got a chance to see her, would Tate regret the time he spent with Kellie and wish he’d spent it with his grandma instead?
She drove them to the hospital, and once they got there, allowed Tate to enter his Gram’s room without her. She wanted her brothers right now, but she truly hoped Jay and Melanie were enjoying their vacation in Tahiti. She texted Tyse and told him the news, and then Max. It was almost like she needed her own support crew because she wasn’t sure if she could be strong enough for Tate on her own.
Rayne arrived shortly after and Kellie continued to wait in the hall so they could be alone. But Tate came looking for her, wrapped his arms around her and held her tight for several minutes.
“I’m ready to go,” he said. “You’re welcome to say goodbye, sweetheart.”
She didn’t know if she wanted to leave him so she hesitated.
“I’m okay with this,” he told her, kissing her forehead. “It was her time. I know that now.”
Kellie swallowed the lump in her throat. She’d never had to say goodbye to anyone close to her… She didn’t know if she could do it.
Tate ended up taking her hand and they entered the room together while Rayne walked past them in silence to be alone. It looked as if Gram was just sleeping, except there was no sound. Kellie had seen her asleep a dozen times. Sometimes she was sleeping when she’d arrive to visit so she would just sit in her room and wait for a bit. Other times Gram would doze off by the end of her visit and she’d leave while soft snores filled the room.
There were no snores this time; no soft sounds of life puffing in and out of her. She had moved on to another place that didn’t require this old body anymore.
“Goodbye, Gram,” Kellie whispered. She placed her hand against her wrinkled cheek and wanted to bawl when she felt that her skin was cold. But she took in a breath of air and leaned down to kiss her face. “I love you. Thank you for everything. Please keep watching over us; we need your love and support.”
If Gram’s spirit was nearby, Kellie hoped she heard her. The woman had given her much more than just an opportunity to visit a nursing home full of elderly occupants. She’d given her a chance to enter a world that she was so grateful to have been invited into, and the precious time and memories she took from that experience would forever be a part of her.
Gram had given her a large chunk of Tate’s world, and that was more than she could have ever asked for.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
It’s strange how something so heartbreaking can actually become healing; how life can throw t
hings at you that are essentially an opportunity for growth and understanding.
Losing Gram was hard for Kellie, and it was especially hard because it broke Tate’s heart. However, she knew that he accepted it, and even though they would both miss her, it was obvious that no one lived forever. Elizabeth Sullivan was an example of wisdom and strength; a loving matriarch that gave whatever she could to her Rayne Drop and Tater Tot.
The funeral had brought about family members that Kellie had yet to meet. She was introduced to Tate’s mom, whom Kellie thought was pleasant enough but a bit withdrawn and obviously not close to her kids at all. There were a few cousins, aunts, uncles, and other family members that Gram had spoken of over the past few months; all people that Gram had claimed were good people, but just not up for the task of spending much time on others. She had never faulted them for that a single time.
The funeral services were beautiful. Kellie helped with the preparations, and of course Sarah and Rayne provided the most gorgeous floral arrangements imaginable. Tate not only gave the eulogy but he also wrote it and it brought instant tears to Kellie’s eyes. That man was so gifted, not only in his words and art, but also in the love and compassion department.
At the graveside service, Kellie could see Max observing from a distance. Jay, Melanie, Teague, and Camryn were all in attendance, but it was heartbreaking that Max deserved to be there just as much or more and felt he couldn’t. Kellie knew it mostly had to do with not wanting to draw attention, but she also knew he was still lying low when it came to his own family. He’d made some very generous contributions to Grams funeral expenses, and even though Tate wanted to object to the handout, Max had cleverly shown him a signed contract he had with Gram that allowed him to do such a thing.
“I beat her at poker three out of five hands,” Max said. “That was what I bet. She kept joking that she just wanted zipped up in a sleeping bag and dropped into the ground. She didn’t want to burden anyone financially.”
“Well for one, she wasn’t joking,” Tate replied, although he was amused. “She always said that. And two, what did she bet?”
Max slowly shrugged but then laughed. “She wanted me to name my next kid after her, whether it be a boy or a girl.”
Well Tate couldn’t argue with Gram’s wishes. He let Max pay for the funeral, and the guy even made large donations to a few of Gram’s favorite charities in her behalf. “Welcome to the family,” Kellie told Tate.
Smiling at a funeral probably wasn’t something most people did, but Kellie couldn’t help it at that moment. Elizabeth Sullivan was a beautiful woman and she’d left a legacy she could certainly be proud of.
“Are you thinking about the sex and baby comments she made?” Tate whispered to her. He’d obviously noticed she’d been trying not to giggle at some memories of Gram.
“No,” she scoffed, trying not to let the humor of it make her laugh out loud. “And don’t bring that up right now.”
Tate replied with either a brief laugh or some sort of grunt, but he whispered, “I know, but I couldn’t help it. And then I was thinking about Max’s comment about Gram wanting him to name his kid after her… That woman made me promise the same thing.”
Kellie tried not to snort. “Dang, she had it all set in motion, didn’t she?”
Tate was fighting back a laugh, but the grin he was trying to hide was priceless. These were the moments that made life worth any bit of heartache that came their way.
When the service was over and Gram’s body and casket were buried with earth, Kellie and Tate walked hand-in-hand to say farewells to the out-of-town family members that were heading home. Those sticking around were headed to Rayne’s house for a dinner gathering, but Tate excused himself from Kellie’s family to go speak with Max.
She watched him walk toward the parking lot of the cemetery where her cousin stood near his car. They were speaking with one another when Jay stopped at Kellie’s side and said, “Hmm, interesting.”
She glanced at her brother and asked, “What’s interesting?”
Jay barely shrugged. “I didn’t realize Max was here, and I also didn’t realize those two had become such good buds. Tate never mentions it.”
“Well maybe he’s just accustomed to the stupid split in the family and knows you don’t want to hear about it.”
Instead of Jay coming back with some kind of retort, he nodded. “You’re right. And to tell you the truth, I’ve been hearing some things about Max that I’m not quite sure how to take.”
“Like what? And from who?”
“Well obviously he has respect for Tate’s grandma. I mean we’re here because she’s his grandma—we support the both of you—but I hear that Max actually met her. Maybe even dropped some money at her nursing home to make her stay a bit better.” Before she could get defensive, he held up his hand. “I’m not being snide, I’m just saying what I heard. It came from Rayne to Sarah to Camryn to Melanie… Shit, I don’t know the telephone order. But I’m just wondering how the guy does it all.”
“Does all of what?”
He shrugged again, just as Teague joined them. “I’m just wondering what he’s up to, that’s all.”
“If you’re talking about my brother—”
Kellie held up a hand to shush Teague. “Not today, you guys. I can’t handle your comments about him. I just wish you’d all forget the past and move on.”
“Some things take some time,” Teague replied evenly. “And I wasn’t going to bash my brother in any way. In fact, I was going to commend him for finally doing what he should have done a long time ago.”
“And what’s that?” Kellie asked carefully. She hadn’t heard any sort of family drama lately so she had no idea what he was talking about.
“Well, if my dad is mad at him, then it’s obvious that somebody got under his skin,” he nodded his head toward Max in the parking lot. “All I got was the ‘what the fuck did you say to him?’ spiel from my dad again.”
“Because it’s always your fault,” Jay smirked.
“Exactly,” Teague agreed good-naturedly.
Kellie remained quiet for a moment, absorbing the change in tone that was now taking place when the guys spoke of anything to do with Max. She could actually see something good set in motion at the time, and if it meant giving the guys a chance to see things with their own eyes instead of just being told, then that’s what she was going to do.
She hugged them both but didn’t mention a word of her current thoughts. “Love you both. I’ll see you at Rayne’s later, okay?”
“For sure,” Jay kissed her on the head.
She waved over her shoulder as she headed to meet up with Tate.
***
A tender serenity continued to umbrella Tate for the next few days, but Kellie could tell it was just the change in everything that he was trying to adjust to. He was mellow and calm by nature, but there was a bit of reverence to his mood these days.
As soon as she was able, Kellie started moving some of her things in to Tate’s house. They’d considered sharing her apartment because it had more privacy from the public, but Kellie really wanted an actual house to live in again. Just the idea of having a yard and being in a single level dwelling was appealing.
However, it didn’t take long before a couple of Tate’s neighbors recognized who she was, and then a few more were aware, and after Teague and Jay had helped her move the last bit of furniture in, they’d had a bit of a gawking audience speckled along the street; porches that contained spectators, and eyes observing from windows. A few people had even wandered down the street, casually walking by the house, some welcoming her to the neighborhood verbally and some not saying a word.
She knew it wasn’t going to work out and felt discouraged. Jay insisted that she and Tate find somewhere else that at least had a bigger lot for space to fence in, but he also recommended a home with a longer driveway and a gate. Both Jay and Teague lived in regular neighborhoods, but they were in nicer communities that had half
-acre lots and fenced-in yards. They occasionally had issues with nosy neighbors or media meandering through the area, but it was somewhat managed okay between the way their homes were located and the fact they didn’t give a shit about press. But…both guys had mentioned moving in the near future; just so their growing families could have more privacy.
“Find a place like Tyse and Sarah have,” Teague told her as they sipped beers on Tate’s back porch. Tate was at work that afternoon, but she was happy both Teague and Jay could spend an hour with her after moving some stuff in. “A full acre lot in a gated community. Camryn and I have been looking at a house in his neighborhood, in fact.”
“Find me one too,” Jay scoffed. “I’m tired of the chick down the street always telling us she’s available to babysit Cade if we ever need it. It may be perceived as innocent and all, but it’s starting to bug the fuck out of me. She’s also had more people over at her house lately, and imagine that, they’re always outside or going for ‘walks’ down the street past our house. And Melanie’s so friendly, she’s always talking to them when they see her and chat her up.”
“Oh God, no,” Kellie shook her head. “You just can’t trust people’s intentions. It always makes us look like stuck up assholes, but when you’ve been burned ten times before, you turn a bit tart.”
“Yeah, she understands all that. She had to deal with it at her old workplace. But it’s hard for her. She just wants to enjoy people in general but can’t now.”
Kellie silently considered that. She knew both Melanie and Camryn had to adjust their lives a bit because of the men they were married to. It was a change they were both willing to make, but it didn’t mean that it was always easy. Jay and Teague never wanted to feel like they needed to change their lives or living situations just because of their last name, but she could tell they were slowly starting to be affected because their growing families were vulnerable to being bothered more often.
Being a McCallan was sometimes a curse.
After that talk with the guys, Kellie considered Tate’s situation more carefully. He’d taken on his role in her life without falter, but they had yet to receive any aftermath. Now that they were moving in together, their lives fusing together was visibly apparent to the public. She wasn’t going to waste a second worrying about tabloid stories based on it, but she knew her grandfather would approach her eventually.
